ហេតុអ្វីបានជា 'បុរសពីតូរ៉ុនតូ' ធ្វើឱ្យក្រុមហ៊ុន Netflix មានគ្រោះថ្នាក់ច្រើនជាងល្អ។

As per usual for a Netflix original that boasts established movie stars and a theatrical-like pedigree, បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ was the streamer’s most-watched movie last weekend, notching a strong (but not superlative) 53.8 million global hours. That translates to around 29 million full viewings of the 112-minute (105-plus-credits) action-comedy. However, as of today, Illumination’s ($407 million-grossing) ច្រៀង ២ has become Netflix’s most-watched movie in America, which argues for a lack of legs and poor buzz.

That would make sense since បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ is unusually lousy, which explains why the Sony release, intended for theatrical release in August, was sent off to Netflix with little pre-release hype. I can’t blame Netflix for airing a terrible movie they didn’t make, but it doesn’t help their reputation as a glorified direct-to-video outlet for our streaming age.

បញ្ហាជាមួយ បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ are legion, including an unsympathetic lead character (Kevin Hart’s seemingly clueless get-rich-quick schemer who ends up mistaken for a hitman while on holiday with his wife), a miscast comic foil (Woody Harrelson, subbing in for Jason Statham after the latter dropped out.

While pairing Hart and Statham, two performers who have a loose working relationship (Hart cameoed in ហាប់បឺកនិងសាវ៉ូ) and a specific onscreen persona, Harrelson offers has little connection to Hart. It’s like My Fellow Americans which failed to replicate បុរសចំណាស់ក្រៀមក្រំ teaming Jack Lemon with James Garner instead of Walter Mattheau.

There’s also a kind of soft-shoe cut-for-PG-13 action that negates much in the way of style and inventiveness to the various showdowns. There’s an extended one-take finale that adequately impresses even if you can see the seams more than usual. The closest thing to novel is an extended beat that feels cribbed from Rush Hour, an obvious smash hit that wasn’t exactly considered an action movie milestone back in 1998. (I’d argue ប្រញាប់ម៉ោង ២ is the best *action movie* of Brett Ratner’s Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan trilogy).

បញ្ហាធំបំផុតជាមួយ The Man from Toronto, both in terms of its existence and what it represents as a “Netflix original,” is that it’s a pale imitation, a “mockbuster,” of other films that everyone involved already made. For Kevin Hart, it’s a painfully inferior version of ភាពវៃឆ្លាតកណ្តាល, the terrific two-hander he made with Dwayne Johnson in the summer of 2016 where he starred as an underachieving but sympathetic guy who gets roped into an espionage mission by a former classmate.

For Woody Harrelson, it’s an inferior version of his two mid-90’s buddy action flicks (ផ្លូវខូវប៊យ with Keifer Sutherland and រថភ្លើងប្រាក់ with Wesley Snipes), neither of which were classics of their time (although រថភ្លើងប្រាក់ gave Jennifer Lopez her breakout role).

As for Patrick Hughes, it’s deeply inferior to អង្គរក្សរបស់ហ៊ីត្លែរ (now on Peacock) which paired a droll but committed Ryan Reynolds and a scenery-chewing Samuel L. Jackson and grossed $171 million on a $30 million budget. He is a solid action director who has made a career directing non-fantastical action movies, which almost feels unheard these days at the theatrical/non-VOD level (all due respect to Isaac Florentine and Jesse V. Johnson).

I mourn for the PG-13 edits made to ចំណាយ ២ (now on Roku), but the actual nuts-and-bolts action choreography is solid, while his breakout ភ្នំក្រហម (currently on Amazon) is a lean and mean action drama that plays like a modern and self-reflective take on ថ្ងៃត្រង់ខ្ពស់.

There are zero reasons to settle for បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ. Even if you’re just stuck at home, you can sample any number of plucky and pulpy VOD actioners (Tubi and Netflix have oodles of Scott Adkins and/or Michael Jai White-starrers) to say nothing of the various foreign action blow-ups that may occasionally blow your mind and put most Hollywood stuff to shame. Heck, on the same service as បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ អង្គុយ។ អរ, a three-hour Indian action spectacular that at its most unapologetically over-the-top and melodramatic feels like a dare to James Wan and James Cameron.

However, Netflix is betting that you’ll see Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson and press “play.” Honestly, that Netflix took this one almost qualifies as a mitzvah for theaters. Again, Netflix did not make the movie and had Sony opened it theatrically I would have been even less kind to it (you can google my review of អង្គរក្សប្រពន្ធរបស់ហ៊ីតាន់) since theatrical is in a kind of put-up or shut up scenario now.

That it became a Netflix film precisely because it was so bad only adds to the narrative that the streaming giant has become the modern version of direct-to-video and the home to inferior versions of previously popular theatrical films which are available on other streaming platforms. បុរសមកពីតូរ៉ុនតូ may be a brief viewership hit, but it (like Cloverfield Paradox ឬថ្មីៗនេះ រដ្ឋ Massachusetts sequel) does Netflix ះថាក់បន្ថែមទៀត ល្អជាង។