A visually sumptuous period piece from Thailand, The King Maker is also, for better or worse, an old-fashioned adventure movie, complete with exotic locations, royal intrigue, and plenty of swashbuckling and derring-do. Former UK boxer Gary Stretch (Dead Man’s Shoes) is top-billed among a largely Thai cast as a 16th-century Portuguese man of action who sets sail to find his father’s killer, but instead finds himself in the employ of the king of Thailand. Treachery involving the queen and a manipulative Portuguese ex-pat (John Rhys-Davies from The Lord of the Rings) soon puts Stretch’s life and romance with Rhys-Davies’ daughter (former Miss World Cindy Burbridge) in serious jeopardy. The Thai locations are gorgeous, and director Lek Kitiparaporn doesn’t shy away from battle scenes or action set pieces, but the Asian actors struggle mightily with their English dialogue (this is only the third Thai film shot in English since the ’40s), which is frankly purple enough to cause problems for those who call it their native tongue. The script as a whole is too sudsy and mawkish to keep action fans happy, and those looking for a historical romance will be turned off by the vigorous violence. The King Maker is perhaps best enjoyed by those with a taste for films with an Asian setting, or viewers looking for diversion and little else. — Paul Gaita
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