Today’s quick review: Skin Trade. Following the death of his family at the hands of human trafficker Viktor Dragovic (Ron Perlman), New Jersey cop Nick Cassidy (Dolph Lundgren) travels to Cambodia to exact his revenge. Tasked with stopping his rampage are Special Agent Reed (Michael Jai White) of the FBI and Tony Vitayakul (Tony Jaa), a Thai detective deeply involved in the Dragovic investigation.
Skin Trade is an action movie that takes aim at human trafficking. Skin Trade unites a cast of familiar faces for a fast-paced tale of revenge with plenty of violent action. However, the film comes up short when it comes to plot, writing, and direction. Coupled with the film’s heavy subject matter, these flaws make Skin Trade a midrate action movie at best, too dark for a romp and too flimsy for a drama.
Skin Trade does a fairly good job with its action. Tony Jaa leads the charge with his martial arts prowess, while Dolph Lundgren slips into his traditional action role: a bruiser with heavy kicks and an itchy trigger finger. The stunts are fast and plentiful, but they are a marked step down from what Tony Jaa could do in a devoted martial arts movie. The fight choreography is decent but could have been much more impressive.
Skin Trade has a host of minor flaws that keep it from fulfilling its potential. The plot takes too long to set up and wraps up too quickly, giving the main part of the story remarkably little time to play out. The setup itself is fairly interesting and wouldn’t have been out of place in a longer movie, but Skin Trade mishandles its plot threads and offers little payoff for its trouble. Poor editing chips away another piece of the movie’s overall quality.
Give Skin Trade a shot if you are a fan of budget action movies and don’t mind one with a heavier tone and mixed execution. The movie does deliver action, and its cast will be a draw for the right viewer, but its weaknesses are significant. For a martial arts movie that shows off Tony Jaa’s full skill set, check out The Protector. For a revenge-based action movie with more style and better delivery, check out John Wick.
5.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for good action and modest star power held back by mediocre execution.