AllMovie

An over-the-top action film cast with some of Thailand's best-known comics, Yuthlert Sippapak's kinetic goofball Killer Tattoo is has an unpredictable energy that keeps it from becoming just another schlocky low budget action flick. Killer Tattoo is full of cut-rate action movie staples that have been around since at least the 1980s, including the criminal (Suthep Po-ngam) hired for one last job when he gets out of prison, the hero's (Somchai Kemglad) maniacal search for the murderer of his parents, whom he can only identify by a tattoo, the bad guy with the bazooka, and actors hired to play Americans (thugs, naturally) who are clearly not Americans. Even the nutty hitman who thinks he's Elvis (Pongsak Pongsuwan) feels like a cliché when it's first dragged out, what with all the sly references to The King in Tarantino's oeuvre, but Sippapak still manages to keep the audience guessing as to what happens next. The plot's unpredictability is a strong selling point. The lead actors, also including the sweet, Tommy Chong-like Sornsutha Klunmalee and the scowling Perttary Wongkamlao, do a good job of staying in character, which makes their inept hijinks that much more amusing. The action itself is adequately staged. Despite a few cleverly thought-out setpieces, and one very dangerous looking stunt involving the aforementioned bazooka (helpfully shown during the outtakes at the end of the film), the film is at its wacky best when the characters aren't holding guns to each other's heads. It's the rare action flick that gets by on the offbeat charm of its oddball cast of characters.