GARUDA

Bangkok 2005. The deity Garuda is accidentally awakened from its millennial slumber. A couple of dinosaur expert scientists join a special team of elite soldiers armed to the teeth and trained to hunt monsters. Mission: locate and eliminate the monstrous winged deity. In the j-horror landscape, Thai cinema is the one that presents the most difficult-to-export and appealing content for a Western audience. These films draw massively from a mystico-religious blend that limits their accessibility, as in the case of films like "The Necromancer", limiting their viewership to a niche audience. But in this case, director Monthon Arayangkoon takes inspiration from the Pang brothers, the most Western of Thai directors, paying homage to monster movies and American action films. "Garuda", known as the devourer in Indian religious tradition, is none other than the mount of the god Vishnu, its cinematic counterpart is buried under Bangkok and is a sort of anthropomorphic bird of prey with giant wings, steel claws, and a bad temper. Made entirely in CGI, the creature does not seem very convincing, but the excellent photography makes up for these visual shortcomings. Garuda has in the typical features of Thai deities its strongest point, but the problem with this type of film is relying too much on the charisma of the monster of the moment, neglecting the screenplay and dialogues that, if more cared for, would have lightened the atmosphere a lot. The overly action-packed approach becomes a flaw in the long run: after a few minutes in which the rise and fall of the god Garuda are known, the rest becomes a repetitive monster hunt, with the ritual question... who hunts whom? Some nods to the classics, "King Kong" and "Godzilla" above all, and to the more recent "Jurassic Park" make this film quite enjoyable, despite Bangkok not being New York, and Garuda not being the eighth wonder of the world.