Skin Trade (2014)

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

People are voting emotionally.

A lot of fun.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Skin Trade is a moderately watchable B grade action flick.The whole affair has a real 80's vibe with larger than life hero's and villains set against a formula that been done many many times before. That said there's nothing inherently wrong with this film. As far as action shooters go this is entertaining. Its interesting too to see Dolph Lundgren still in the drivers seat. In spite of the fact I think he is nearing 60 he can still mix it up with some really decent martial arts fight scenes. I enjoyed this film. Its not pretending to be anything other than what it is and on this level I think it works quite well. Six out of ten from me.

SKIN TRADE is a real surprise: a recent Thai action thriller that doesn't disappoint. In my view, CHOCOLATE was the last great Thai martial arts film and everything made since then has been a disappointment, but this B-movie thriller has more of an international flavour and excels in its depiction of non-stop action.The plot sees various heroic types teaming up to tackle a Serbian gangster and his men. Tony Jaa is a Thai cop trying to break up a prostitution racket while Dolph Lundgren has his family massacred and goes on a revenge spree against those responsible. Ron Perlman is the baddie while Michael Jai White also co-stars. It was great to see Peter Weller too as the old police chief.The story might be slim but the pace is very fast and the action offers a good mix of chases, hand-to-hand combat, and shoot-outs. Lundgren and Jaa make a good team and the latter in particular gets to show off his skills in a much better way than in his bit parts in the likes of FAST & FURIOUS 7 and XXX: THE NEXT LEVEL. Sure, there's plenty of camera tricks, wire work, and stunt doubling, but for pure action, SKIN TRADE delivers.

Nick Cassidy (Dolph) is a tough New York cop with a loving wife and daughter. When a Serbian gangster named Viktor Dragovic (Perlman) and his three sons appear on Nick's radar, representing many illegal interests, not the least of which is human trafficking, Nick makes it his mission to shut them down. It becomes personal when the baddies kill his wife and daughter and leave him for dead. Now fueled for revenge, Nick travels to Thailand, and while there meets up with a Thai cop named Tony (Jaa). At first they are enemies based on misunderstanding, but eventually they team up to end the Dragovic criminal empire - permanently. Add to that some duplicity on behalf of a man named Reed (White), Nick and Tony have their hands full. Will they both put an out-of-business sign on the SKIN TRADE? Dolph delivers what fans want with Skin Trade, and notches another positive on his ever-growing resume. Having starred in, co-produced, and co-written the film, Dolph has described it as a passion project. That he has two daughters of his own provided even more emotional fuel for him, and he even got involved behind the scenes with anti-trafficking organizations. While that is noble, and there is a tasteful title card after the film that informs us about trafficking, what we're here for is the action, and there's plenty of it. It's all framed around what is probably our favorite plot, the revenge framework.Dolph even assembled a dream cast for this one. You can't do better than having Dolph, Tony Jaa, Michael Jai White (MJW as we call him), Ron Perlman and Peter Weller all together, can you? Weller's part is necessarily restrained, but he does bring his classic voice and intensity to the role. Perlman, honestly, doesn't get a ton of screen time either, but he makes the most of what he has. The Dolph-Tony Jaa fight amongst all the falling rice was a movie highlight, as was another dream pairing, the MJW-Tony Jaa fight.It looks professional and non-junky, thank goodness, and the stellar cast only reinforces the "this could have gone to the theater here and probably did in other countries around the world" vibe. Dolph does walk away from an explosion, which is always cool, but sadly it's a CGI explosion. While we really liked the movie overall, and there is plenty to commend within it, the use of CGI explosions, bullet hits, sparks, etc., plus the annoying use of cut frames was a bit bothersome. But it's very clear the positives outweigh those minor negatives.We applaud everyone involved, especially Dolph, for producing Skin Trade. On the one hand it has brutal violence and top-notch fights from the best in the business, and on the other hand it delivers an important message about one of the evils in the world today. The fact that Dolph and the gang found a way to marry those two together is impressive and noteworthy. Skin Trade is worth seeing and recommending.

Tough New Jersey cop Nick Cassidy (Dolph Lundgren) has somehow bagged himself an extremely hot wife half his age, so he's understandably a bit miffed when Serbian criminals blow her to smithereens with a rocket during a revenge attack, along with his teenage daughter Sofia (Chloe Babcook). Discharging himself from hospital shortly thereafter, despite having taken a couple of bullets point-blank himself (THAT'S how tough he is!), Nick goes looking for human trafficker Viktor Dragovic (Ron Perlman), the man who ordered the hit on his home, bumping off numerous bad guys along the way. Meanwhile, Thai cop Tony (Tony Jaa), another policeman with seemingly no regard for due process (he happily chucks criminals out of hotel windows!), is also hot on the trail of Dragovic.For much of its running time, Skin Trade feels like a straight-to-video action movie from the '80s—unfortunately, not one of the better ones: a predictable plot, uninspired shoot 'em ups and mediocre chase scenes do little to get the adrenaline pumping, with ageing lead Lundgren seemingly struggling with the physicality of his role (his early on-foot pursuit of a criminal leaves the Swedish star looking rather knackered). Thank heavens, then, for Muay Thai miracle Tony Jaa, who eventually brings some much needed life to the party: as if inspired by the younger fighter's prowess, Dolph perks up for a hard-hitting one-on-one against Jaa, and an impressive smack-down between TJ and Michael Jai White (who plays a corrupt cop who frames Nick for murder) also proves rather exhilarating.A well mounted finale that sees Nick and Tony team up to fight Viktor and his men delivers more bone crunching action from Jaa, lots of bloody bullet squibs, and a very impressive helicopter crash, after which the film peters out as Nick goes searching for his daughter, who—surprise, surprise—is still alive, just another victim of dastardly Dragovic's skin trade.6.5 out of 10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.