POWER KIDS (Thailand, 2009)
Directed by: Krissanapong Rachata
Starring: Nantawooti Boonrapsap, Sasisa Jindamanee, Paytaai Wongkamlao, Narawan Techaratanaprasert, Johnny Nguyen

To trace the downfall of Western civilization, you need look no further than the sad state of our children's entertainment.  Nickelodeon can claim commercial success, but the plain facts are that when international terrorists come to your house to kill your parents, "Hannah Montana" is not going to help.  Back in the good old days, Henry Thomas in E.T. could take on the CIA and thenwaste away from a debilitating alien mind meld, and that kid in THE NEVERENDING STORY could duke it out with a giant wolf. Today, children's media is sanitized and  neutered; there's no guts, no glory, no inappropriate swearing. They can't even crack jokes about heroin like THE GOONIES!

If you miss the days when movies could beat kids like rented mules, NYAFF 2010 offers you POWER KIDS, a spine-snapping blockbuster for ages K-12.  It's the heartwarming story of four preteen Muay Thai enthusiasts who come together in the spirit of friendship to kick terrorist ass.  Facing off against superstar Johnny Tri Nguyen (THE REBEL) in an all-ages action bonanza produced by Panna Ritikrai and Prachya Pinkaew (the masterminds behind CHOCOLATE, the ONG-BAK series, RAGING PHOENIX and the rise of Tony Jaa), our young heroes infiltrate a rebel-infested hospital to get a sick little friend a new heart - by any means necessary, including kicking hapless American stuntmen in the junk over and over until they piss blood (no, seriously).

Don't look for any fancy jump-cuts hiding some five-foot-tall stuntwoman doing all the real work in POWER KIDS; these moppets know how to give and receive some serious damage.  That really is a kickboxing 11-year-old-girl taking a backhand in the face as Johnny Nguyen beats his pint-sized nemeses with laptops, hurls them through plate glass windows, peppers them with machine gun fire and goes toe to toe with a boy not old enough to shave. Cracking skulls with killer knees and elbows, ripping the plumbing out of the walls and immolating bad guys with Molotov cocktails, the Power Kids are the mutant love children of DIE HARD and BUGSY MALONE.  Come at midnight, and bring the family.