Writer: Florey DM

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Watch this if you liked: "Hanuman", "The Raid", "Ong Bak"

The Good, the Bad and the Prison Escape:

With a name like "Jailbreak", action scenes are imminent in this latest offering from Cambodian-based Italian director Jimmy Henderson. While action-packed, the pacing of the movie is not rushed. It opens with mellow steps, easing fans into the storyline, giving them a breather before the action sequences finally kick in.

In the beginning, we see action star Jean-Paul Ly being introduced as Inspector Ly to the team, we see the tension building up between the new face and the rest of the team. There's especially friction between the inspector and Dara Our's and Tharoth Sam's police characters. Once the action kicks in about half an hour into the movie, this trio will be the main characters that will take fans on an exhilarating ride of endless action.

The storyline is simple enough to follow. An elite team of police is tasked with escorting Playboy (Savin Phillip), the legendary "leader" of the Butterfly Gang, to a high security prison, Prey Klaa. What was supposed to be a simple mission, however, turned deadly when the real leader of the Butterfly Gang puts a hit on Playboy, causing a riot in the prison as the hired hitman, Bolo (Sisowath Siriwudd), carries out his lethal task.

Once the riot breaks out, this is where the three really get to shine. Ly mesmerises with his sharp movements, easily showing to the audiences the reason why he's been hired for various Hollywood productions, including "Marvel's Doctor Strange", "Lucy" and "Now You See Me 2". Dara Our too puts his Bokator skills on full display, as he kicks and punches his way out of the deadly riot. Tharoth Sam doesn't lose out to the boys, the MMA fighter is the embodiment of female empowerment as she fights her way through and even squares off against the skilled leader of the Butterfly Gang (played by Vietnamese French actress Celine Tran).

Apart from skilled fighters, which include the Bokator stunt team, pulling out all the stops for the action-packed scenes, another thing that really makes the action movie worth a watch is the cinematography. Compared to the simpler movements of other locally made movies, the camera movements in "Jailbreak" have more variety and range. The fight scenes especially benefit from the camera movements. Audiences will feel like they are part of the scenes themselves, instead of merely being a viewer from the outside looking in.

The polished look of the movie also helps audiences to be more immersed. Compared to other local productions, the movie is a rung higher in terms of audio and visual aesthetics as it has had proper sound mixing and colour grading done. It is evident in how the punching sound effects sound more realistic and not cartoonish, in how the colours in the scenes differ based on the tone of the story.

Fans of action movies will definitely not be left wanting as they exit the halls but non-action fans shouldn't sit this one out either, as the movie is still a treat thanks to its high quality aesthetics and the comedic performances, which blend into the storyline without taking away from the thrilling action sequences.

Cinema Online, 31 January 2017