...and the future is a dude named Tony Jaa.  If you haven't seen it yet, go rent "The Protector".  I'm serious...go right now...I'll wait.  Ok, are you back?  Good.  Before you watch it, let me say a few things.  First, I am a HUGE fan of Bruce Lee.  I've got a Bruce Lee box set on DVD and am amazed every time I watch him in fight scenes.  I would LOVE to see what modern-day Hollywood could do with a talent like him.  Unlike a lot of martial-arts actors, Lee could actually act.  Plus, he's got this onscreen presence that no one can duplicate in martial-arts movies.  Much like Elvis, Lee just had that "it" factor in movies to where I will sit through some of his very early films where all the audio is dubbed because the fight scenes just blow my mind.  Ok, maybe a bad analogy since Elvis never kicked anyone's ass onstage, but he could have.  Did you know Elvis was a black belt?  He was.  In fact, in one biography I read one of his trainers stated that Elvis could have been a true martial-arts master if he completely dedicated himself to it....he was that good.  But back to Bruce Lee...the guy was amazing.  If you watch ANY martial-arts film, you at least have to watch "Enter The Dragon".  Yes, it looks dated and may seem campy at times, but Lee was poised to become a superstar.  Sadly he died.  And just like his dad, Brandon Lee was poised to be a superstar with "The Crow", but he died as well.  It sucks because both of them could have made TONS of quality movies.  Now the story goes that when Lee was filming "Return of the Dragon" and fought a young Chuck Norris in the finale that Norris wanted to test Lee and see how good he was because Norris was young and cocky.  The story goes that Lee taught Norris a few things during their fight scene and Norris wasn't exactly a slouch at that time.  Watching Bruce Lee do fight scenes is seeing the pinnacle of speed and fluidity.  And if you really want to watch a badass fight scene, check out "Game of Death".  Ok, enough on Bruce Lee, I think my point has been made...hahaha.  Anyway, since I LOVE a good martial-arts movie I'm always on the lookout for a new one.  Now I'll admit, I have a hard time sitting through foreign films with subtitles, so I get quite picky and will bore easily with these.  However, "The Protector" is BEYOND awesome and merits repeated viewings.

Tony Jaa is unreal...this guy is fast and smooth in the fights.  Plus, he actually has some onscreen presence.  Serious, if you don't believe me check out some of his exhibitions on youtube.com.  The stuff you will see will blow your mind.  No wires, no CGI, just a dude who knows how to kick some ass.  He studied Muay Thai, which basically means he studies how to obliterate people using his elbows and lethal kicks.  There's one scene in the movie where he's got two guys coming at him and he just throws elbows to the dudes' heads repeatedly with lightening speed...unbelievable.  Yes, the story may be ho-hum to some and it's not exactly the most intriguing story I've ever seen in a movie, but if you are a guy, you need to see it.  You will catch yourself during it thinking "Hmmm...let me grab the Yellow Pages and see who teaches Muay Thai in this area".  You will, I guarantee it if you have testosterone in your body.  I thought Jet Li was fast and did impressive stuff...and he does...but Tony Jaa absolutely blows me away, and I truly hope he becomes a superstar like Bruce Lee was poised to be.

Now here's how I know how awesome this movie is.  I was at work and downloaded a two minute clip from this movie when I was looking on the internet during my lunch break for a new movie to watch.  I viewed the clip multiple times.  This girl I work with was walking by my desk and I said "you have got to check this out".  I showed it to her, and she was impressed with the fight scene!  However, she also stated she doesn't like "those kinds of movies".  Let me reiterate.  This woman I work with doesn't like horror movies, doesn't like war movies, basically doesn't like movies with violence like I do, yet she was pretty impressed with Tony Jaa's fighting abilities.  If that doesn't sell "The Protector" then I don't know what will.

So what is it about a movie where a guy basically kicks everyone's ass that appeals to me so much?  I honestly don't know...that's probably a topic for a therapist...hahaha.  But I know I'm not alone because when I went to go rent this movie it was out, and when I went to go buy the movie several stores were sold out.  Men want to be men.  We want to watch movies where a guy doesn't take crap off anyone and does his own thing.  We want to watch movies where the leading man fights for what he believes in and for what's right.  That's who we are...and that's probably why I'm still single...hahaha.  Here's a side story...I remember a few years ago at a job when I was outside smoking and a couple of women I work with were outside with me talking about Russell Crowe and how desirable he is.  I joined the conversation and mentioned what a scumbag he is in real life...but they didn't care...they dug him because of the characters he portrayed like General Maximus in "Gladiator".  So I posed an honest question to them.  That question was "Why is it I always hear women go nuts over a character like Maximus, yet when a really good and honorable guy comes along they run away to the bad boy?"  You know what these two women told me...and it's something I've heard from others as well...it's because when a guy with honor and morals comes along they think it's too good to be true and run away from it.  Now I am not saying all women are like this, just ones I've been with or talked to.  This is why I rail on Johnny Sensitive, because I know some dude like that is a liar and only looking to "score".  This doesn't mean I don't care or am not mindful of the one I'm with, but jeez...I am not about to act like I want to discuss "feelings" for hours on end.  I'm a guy.  I like my guy stuff.  I like watching Tony Jaa kick everyone's ass instead of watching "The Notebook" and I make no apologies for it.

Go watch "The Protector"....it ROCKS!  If you want to watch a movie where a dude annihilates everyone who crosses his path, then this is your movie.  In fact, I love one review I saw on rottentomatoes.com that stated - "The moral of this story is if you steal a kung-fu master's elephants, you WILL have your legs broken. Period."