Having been raised by a Muay Thai teacher, two young brothers and their friends have defied their small stature to become talented martial artists. Sadly, the youngest brother suffers from an acute heart condition and following a minor scuffle with local bullies, he is hospitalised and left in desperate need of a heart transplant. Fortunately, a viable donor is found in another local hospital, but before it can be transferred rebel soldiers seize the building. With only four hours in which the surgery can be performed, the young friends decide to take matters into their own hands and go up against the terrorists by themselves.

One look at the international cover for 'Force Of Five' would lead you to believe that this is another exciting showcase for the physical feats of actor Johnny Nguyen ('The Rebel'). However, what we actually have here is the Thai equivalent to 'Three Ninjas' that features a group of sickly sweet children using their Muay Thai skills to fend off a handful of evil adults (one of which is of course Nguyen). Unfortunately, this isn't nearly as exciting as it sounds, as the majority of 'Force Of Five' is cliché ridden and predominantly action free. This means that three quarters of the running time is spent watching the cringeworthy kids playing unfunny pranks on their teacher or participating in a rather dull remote controlled car race. Now while it is obvious that these antics are aimed at the younger viewers, it is somewhat strange then that the film almost purposefully seems to alienate them by mixing in some unnecessarily violent gunplay and foul language.

When the film's action sequences do finally materialise, it has to be said that even these are somewhat disappointing. Although the kids may be extremely talented martial artists, the two that are pushed to the forefront look to be slightly uncoordinated and slow when it comes to on-screen fighting. In an effort to counter this, the movie relies heavily on slow motion for all of the fight scenes, meaning that the more impressive acrobatic moves get lost in an abundance of unnecessarily highlighted regular punches or kicks. To make matters worse, the leaping knee/elbow made famous by 'Ong Bak' is used in excess, and after the third or fourth time you see it, it really does start to become tiresome.

It's hard to see exactly what they were going with 'Force Of Five', as the film is neither a competent action film nor a movie that is suitable for children. As if this wasn't bad enough, it is also being marketed as a vehicle for Johnny Nguyen when his part is really little more than an extended cameo. Sufficed to say, for whatever reason you may decide to watch it, 'Force Of Five' is a big disappointment.