Time Rush (2016)

Time Rush (2016)
Aka: Bangkok Rush; Reflex

 

Starring: Dean Alexandrou, Selina Lo, Ron Smoorenburg, Byron Gibson, Kecha Khamphakdee
Director: Daniel Zirilli
Action Directors: Kecha Khamphakdee, Jaika Stunts, Ron Smoorenburg, Dean Alexandrou, Charlie Ruedpokanon

Ong Bak meets Edge of Tomorrow.

I’m not sure if this was what was pitched to investors, but if you wanted to describe Time Rush (renamed Bangkok Rush for “dumb” American audiences) in a few words, I believe that would suffice nicely. This film is a vanity project—or at least of labor of love—for martial artist Dean Alexandrou, who wrote, produced, edited, starred in, helped choreograph and did the second-unit directing for this movie. It’s a neat idea, even if it doesn’t quite succeed in the end.

The movie begins with Alex (Alexandrou) waking up in time to see three armed soldiers capture and murder some guy (Byron Gibson). The three men then start chasing Alex through the streets of Bangkok until one of them, the Captain (Ron Smoorenburg, of Who Am I?), is able to shoot him down following a boat chase.

Flashback to London, six months before. An executive for a pharmaceutical company, Michael (Richard Dee-Roberts, of Jurassic Predator), is approached by a shady government goon named Williams (Michael Ashton, of Symbiont and Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard). Williams tells Michael that the government knows that his company has set up a laboratory in Thailand in order to experiment on the locals in a way that is legal, but still unethical. In exchange for their silence, the government wants them to develop a theoretical drug called Prevara.

Suddenly, Alex is waking up again to the same sight of the random guy getting his head blown off. Another foot chase begins, ending with Alex entering a restaurant where Jane (Selina Lo, of Haphazard and The Scorpion King 3) works. Apparently, she is his girlfriend, although he cannot remember and she’s upset that he had been incommunicado for an entire month. Before either of them can figure out what is going on, there is a struggle between him and the Captain. Jane is shot and killed, but suddenly time reverses itself and Alex is able to save her at the cost of his own life.

After another flashback to three months earlier, which details how Alex and Jane met, the former wakes up again, just in time to see the same guy get gunned down, execution style. The same foot chase commences, ending with Alex trying to hide out at the gym in Bangkok where he works. A huge fight breaks out between the gym employees (and martial arts students) and the soldiers, but the soldiers prevail and the Captain beats Alex to death with a steel weight-lifting bar. Following a flashback explaining how Jane had to return to Thailand (where everybody speaks English) and that Alex decided to follow her there, he wakes up again in the same place as always…

Of course, all of this is linked to the Prevara drug, and not a Dr. Strange-esque time loop. The explanation for the repetition of events is a little more cerebral. Long story short: the drug transforms its users into Alice Cullen from Twilight. There, I said it. I actually like that idea, even if the film’s low budget prevents them from doing anything real creative with it. The foot chase sequence that occurs at the beginning of each iteration is played almost completely identical to a certain point before it deviates. On one hand, that means that they could’ve just shot several takes and used a different take for each successive iteration. But we still have to see the same scenery for each repetition, which is redundant. And three iterations end with Alex in Jane’s apartment, which feels like it’s going in circles (quite literally).

Thankfully, the action itself is not repetitive. Each iteration results a different set piece. One of them is a brawl at a restaurant between Alex, the soldiers, and a Thai gang. Another one is the aforementioned melee between the gym and the soldiers. There’s a neat cat-and-mouse chase at an abandoned building that has two brief one-on-one scuffles between Alex and the Captain, and Alex and the Commander (Kecha Khamphakdee). The cream of the crop is an extended fight between Alex and the Captain in the final iteration, which has some great choreography. It’s fast, complex, and Ron Smoorenburg can still bust out the moves some 18 years after Who Am I? I almost expected him to quote that film and say, “Take it easy. We have plenty of time” when he lifts his kicking legs into the air. It would’ve made sense, given this movie’s theme.

The action was staged by Ron Smoorenburg, Dean Alexandrou, Kecha Khamphakdee, and Charlie Ruedpokanon. Ron needs no introduction, and between this, Haphazard and Triple Threat, it seems like he’s settled down permanently in Thailand to make martial arts films. Dean is certainly a talented athlete, a black belt in Taekwondo and a student of Parkour, it would seem. Thai martial artist Khamphakdee appears to be busy on the Indian movie scene, serving as stunt coordinator and fight choreographer in a number of Bollywood productions.  Finally, Charlie Ruedpokanon is also a veteran stuntman, having worked on Haphazard and Tremors: Shrieker Island, in addition to the Disney+ series “Ms. Marvel.” It is very much obvious that with the parkour and crazy aerial kicks and displays of acrobatics that they are going for an Ong Bak vibe. Heck, there’s even a scene where a guy is performing acrobatic kicks while his pant legs are on fire, just like in Ong Bak. I just wish the fights were all a little bit longer.

I’m debating on whether or not to keep this in the collection. There are some good fights. And I could ogle Selina Lo all day. I may have to give it another view to be sure. But I liked it more than the 3.2 rating on IMDB would suggest, even if the acting leaves a bit to be desired. Make of that as you will.