Story:
In exchange for a big sum of money, four Thai guys went
to Africa to investigate a region where mysterious murders
are occurring. Armed with carbines and just enough courage,
they try to put some light on these inexplicable events.
However, things get more complicated than expected when
their travel bus has some mechanical problems, giving
them no other choice but to go all the way by foot.
On
the way to their destination, in the wild of Africa,
they face plenty of problems such as a black stalker
spirit, villager’s ghost, a strange cannibal
tribe and many other inexplicable spiritual phenomenons.
Review: As probably one of the most incoherent
movies I have had a chance to stumble upon, Duk Dum
Dui is a one of a kind experience. Find the general
idea of five different movies, skip the introduction,
mix everything together and come up with a totally
out of place conclusion and you get the general notion
of what Duk Dum Dui is.
The
story introduces and mixes so many elements without
giving any explanation that after the first few minutes
you just give up trying to put things together. If
you even think about doing so, you will feel cheated
by the ending. The conclusion doesn’t make any
more sense than the whole movie either. The basic
idea was not necessarily bad, but a viewer who doesn’t
expect this kind of experience will probably feel
lost.
The
movie is never really boring as there’s always
something funny or strange happening. The four main
actors give a good show. Their acting might not be
perfect but their physical appearance and comical
behavior was very funny, which is why they succeeded
at playing their respective parts. The character development
and background explanation is almost non-existent,
which is kind of annoying at the beginning as it takes
time to understand what, why and where they are going.
The
setting was very strange too, as apparently the movie
takes place in Africa but the landscape doesn’t
look like it at all. They even put fake cactus everywhere.
I’m not very familiar with local people from
Africa, but in the movie it seems that one out of
three people can speak Thai or is from Thailand. However,
even if these aspects seem a bit strange they go hand
in hand with the disorganized story.
The
movie never really stops for one minute as the characters
are always facing problems, most of which are solved
by a quick escape. Ghosts, monsters, dwarf cannibals
or simply forces of nature are giving them a really
hard time. Don’t expect anything serious either,
as slapstick humor is an important part of the film.
Unfortunately, not every joke works very well. The
best ones were those poking fun at the cinema industry.
If the humor had been more developed, the jokes would
have probably been less expected. In most cases, that
problem ruined the surprise, as the jokes were too
easy to guess before they even happened on screen.
On
the other hand, the visuals are very impressive. There’s
a small dose of CGI, which is very well done, and
also a few camera tricks that the director did were
very interesting to see in action. Speaking of the
director, he also plays one of the fourth main characters
and is also the funniest one.
Nonetheless,
people who like strange non-serious movies are sure
to love this one. Mixing comedy, fantasy and weirdness,
Duk Dum Dui is a fun experience but is probably not
something that you will want to visit more than once.