Highly Overrated But Still Good

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

I was looking for a couple of hours of switching off my brain but found myself trying to work out why Angel's coffee machine was rigged as a bomb, why they were tied to chairs and one of them shot, how they knew the mad killer would be going to a train station, why an early lead they had didn't tell them that the death was an accident, and then after the end trying to work out why Angel was bound and thrown into the river to make it look like a murder.Not only that I'm still trying to work out why one reviewer here asked "Why would this movie be in English?" - that comment does make some critics who get paid seem quite intelligent and objective.All in all, quite thought provoking...

The movie might be easy to spot and you probably won't be too surprised by the ending. But it's still nicely made, if you don't expect a martial arts romp that is. It seems that some people thought, that with all the names attached this would be a lot of hand-to-hand action and fighting. And while there is a certain amount of action, it's mostly "gunplay"/-fighting that is going on.A fair warning (or whatever you want to call it): there is a lot of nudity in this movie, though it's almost entirely in the first 2-3 minutes. After that we see Mr. Adkins, but he's not the lead in this, so don't get confused by that either. It's a man on a mission, a different take on ... Taken.

You have to commend Scott Adkins' tenacity, he's been churning out movies regularly by the months now, although none as compelling as The Undisputed, one that made him staple action hero. His role here is minimum and seemingly plastered for the draw of his name. The core story is a father sets out for vengeance, its simplicity could work better if not for the awful camera display which often too close or sporadic to be enjoyable.When the news of his daughter's death reaches him, Johnny (Dustin Nguyen) goes on a part investigation and part rampage throughout Thailand. For almost the entire part, this is the main story and the performance is fitting for rough Asian crime drama. The characters seem like the veteran cops that have street smart. However, the screenplay is disjointed, they would interrogate a person, get into a fight, then resume investigation randomly, the continuity is far from smooth.There's an attempt to build intimate sympathy for Angel, the fallen daughter, yet the movie lacks any sophistication to make her beyond plot device or basic motivation. Simple conversation is presented with fast cut editing, changing from one face to another with extreme close-up. This is really distracting since it could've been shot in one continuous framing instead, and these dialogues made the bulk of the movie, yet audience would only see the character staring each other with rigid expression.If the camera is shaky in simple scene, it goes horribly wrong in fighting sequences. People would get punched off screen or someone would fire a barrage and the visual zooms in the wrong way, it barely has any clear focus in the critical fights, which are so few and far between. Despite having decent roster for action, the combat is unsatisfying as it only presents a couple basic fisticuffs. Furthermore, sound effect and the spark effect from gun would be off like dud of firework.It's not all bad though, the cinematography for scenery looks good and the display of nudity is not as hackneyed as one would think, the ambiance would benefit more from these exotic locales. However, there are too many faulty elements for the crime thriller to be appealing, and its expected action draw is disappointing as well.

Director Wych Kaos could only improve after releasing the awful TEKKEN 2, and while he does just that with ZERO TOLERANCE, he's still not making the movie that most viewers actually want to see. Talk about unmatched expectations! This film – a thriller disguised as an action feature - is probably the best movie that Kaos has ever done, but that's still not saying much.The story: When the estranged daughter of an ex-CIA operative (Dustin Nguyen) turns up dead in Bangkok, he and his ex-partner (Sahajak Boonthanakit) delve into the city's underworld to uncover the young woman's shady past and unmask her killer.To be fair, I don't think that the movie was ever explicitly advertised as a martial arts feature, but when the names used to promote it include Dustin Nguyen, Scott Adkins, Gary Daniels, and Kane Kosugi, one cannot help but expect a lot of hand-to-hand action. Disappointingly, the film does not even provide the bare minimum. There are two full-length brawls, only one of which counts as an actual karate fight (the Nguyen/Adkins showdown), and neither of them are very good – they could have been shot with anybody, with no need for some of the best on screen fighters to get involved. The action content in general is meager, with only three shootouts to otherwise tide viewers over. One of these – a close-range affair in a crowded room – is pretty enjoyable, but breathtaking action clearly isn't this film's objective.This is a character-driven thriller, and in that regard, the movie isn't bad. Dustin and his costars all generally excel at playing morally ambiguous characters in a sleazy setting. The movie's pacing is infinitely better than the director's previous picture, and though this is not exactly SE7EN, I felt engaged and anxious to find out who the killer was. The eventual resolution is a serious matter of taste – either you'll find it ironically apt or a complete cop-out – but it highlights the earthy tone of the movie that may turn off people who are used to lighter fare. The subject of prostitution is questionable enough for some folks, but there's an odd, uncomfortable strain of chauvinism running through the picture, with abuse of women by both "good guys" and villains being a common occurrence despite the general anti-trafficking sentiment.Apparently this movie was edited from an unreleased film, with the footage of Adkins and Kosugi shot a couple of years later. It's integrated pretty well – practically unnoticeable unless you know what to look for. This feat of seamlessness is easily the most impressive part of the movie, which otherwise ends up being relatively unremarkable. ZERO TOLERANCE isn't the debacle it could have been, but it's also not nearly as cool as I'm certain most people were hoping for. Know yourself well before considering anything more than a rental.