Pee Nak 3 (2022)

Pee Nak 3 is the best one yet!

I've just finished binging all 3 of the Pee Nak movies over the last few days, and....Oh my gosh I'm going to be excitedly awaiting movie number 4! I hope they continue with these. The stories and the characters get better with each movie.

This was my favorite of the 3. I really enjoyed the cinematography and the beauty of the locations where the filming took place. I was happy to see so many of the original actors continuing the story, plus some new ones. I was excited to see Leo Put and Plan show up in this movie. And from the foreshadowing of the next movie, it appears (crossing my fingers) that Mean and Plan will both be in it...? I adore their chemistry, even if it's not a BL.

I enjoy that the comedy is over-the-top funny, but not so much as to make it unwatchable (in my opinion.) It actually made me laugh out loud in some spots, and that's unusual. I also, surprisingly, don't find it irreverent towards Buddhism, but as I'm not Buddhist, I could be wrong about that. There were moments when I actually even did some self-reflection as I watched, and when does that ever happen in a comedy/horror??

(Also, I checked out the YouTuber from the movie, Kyutae Oppa, and I kinda liked his YouTube content, as well as his singing. I am sad that he doesn't have subtitles in the vids where he's not speaking English, as I'm not fluent in the other languages. I can pick out a word or 2 here and there though, so it didn't stop me from perusing his channel.)

Although I miss August in this sequel, I think this was a well-done movie. I would definitely recommend this, and you can watch it as a stand-alone, but I think it'd be best to watch the first and second movie so that you have backstory on the characters.

And before I go, I want to commend a couple of the actors...Tar would have been around 15-16 yrs old when filming the first movie, and I was impressed to see him do so well in all 3 films. And Pond kind of blew me away in these movies! But I can't forget Aim and James, with their comedy relief. Great job all!

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PN 3, THE MOST HILARIOUS IN THIS FRANCHISE !! :)

This is the MOST HILARIOUS n CHAOTIC movie in this franchise 😂
(Not a Scary horror).

As said in my previous Pee Nak Reviews:
Thai Comedies (Horror or Rom-Com), as usual, are always CHAOTIC !
(If U are aware of Thai comedies, only then, U can enjoy this.
Bcz Every Country has its OWN TONE OF COMEDY, especially Japan or Thai comedies are not for everyone 🤷🏻‍♀️)

***
A Good Mix of Horror + Comedy + serious stories of the ghost's past and the main story.

***
Entertaining n Funny, except 1-2 scenes like making fun of the little monk (Novice kid) n Old Monk by characters First n Balloon.

Those looked insulting n very disrespectful towards Monks, though meant for comedy purposes only.

***
The Main Story is about a Cursed Golden Anklet n is INTERESTING to watch.

The intertwining of
the Main story (Cursed golden anklet n the dangerous effects of the curse like growth of snake scales over character Aod's body n finding a solution to it),
the Ghost's past (why n how it became a Vengeful Spirit n why it keeps haunting) and
the Story of Rebirth / Past lives of some of the characters (Aod, Noht, First, Balloon n the ghost, as shown in PN 2),
is Well Written.

The Ghost's past, the anklets' issue, the Naga (Giant Snake) story and the "Past lives" are beautifully blended into the Main story.

***
Like in previous Pee Nak movies,
Even here, The ghost story n the main story depict religious process n ritual like "Ordaining to be a Monk" in Buddhism and is Very Interesting to watch.

The Story of the Naga,
Boon of the Naga - "Nak" in the ordain process,
The Golden Anklets of the Naga,
the Ghost's past life and its anklets,
the Past lives of everyone etc,
how all these are related to the present Main Story (The adventures of the team in search of the temple where golden anklets are given to Naks during the ordain process thereby to revoke the curse), is Well Written.

The Haunting scenes are VERY FUNNY n CHAOTIC 😂
Even the scenes of the team trying to find a solution to the cursed golden anklets, the Buddhist Monks helping the team to ward off the ghost n to revoke the curse, are very funny😂

***
Director Mike is known for Comedy genre! 👌🏻
Production, Screenplay are good enough.
Locations are cool.

***
The Curse of the Golden Anklets:
Whoever steals the anklets, will be haunted by the ghost, have nightmares, develop snake scales all over their body and dies, finally.

The ghost claims the anklets to be its own precious possession (though owned by the original Naga), keeps haunting the person who steals those from it n doesn't allow the person to wear or remove the anklets, thereby disturbing the ordain process.

Intially, there is a lot of Chaos within the team, when the ghost claims that 4 of them stole its anklets - this confusion n fear among the characters about which 4 of them, is hilarious 😂

The way how PN 2 n PN 3 are related with recurring characters, is well written.
The Past lives of the characters and the golden anklet is just referred in PN 2, while it is the main story here.

***
Every Actor performed well.
Every Character is lovable.

The recurring characters n the cast, Mean, Aim, James, Pond n Tar are cool.

Aim n James as queer characters are hilarious n chaotic, as usual 😂

Plan's cameo in two characters as Naga and human 😄

New cast n characters introduced here, especially Korean YouTuber n little Novice kid are funny.
First n Balloon with that young Novice are more chaotic😂

Mean is cool n plays a K-pop idol character.
Mean looks like KDrama actor Park Seo Joon🤭

Director's cameo as the one who helped them with truck.

Placement of that Insurance advertisement as a part of the story is funny.

***
In the end, the curse is revoked n the ordain process of Aod happens as planned n peacefully👌🏻

The climax scenes are Funny.
At the end of every movie, a Buddha Amulet is given to one among them n whoever takes it, faces trouble in the next movie 😂
And here, Aod gave that to Mean's character n so he would face Haunting in PN 4, like how Aod was given that amulet in previous movie n faced trouble here 😂
(In the beginning of PN 1, August was given that Amulet by a monk, he faced trouble there n in the end, August gave it to First.
And so in PN 2, First faced trouble n gave it to Aod in the end.)

In the end, where everyone screamed out of fear, when the Naga (Plan) tells everyone that they will meet again in the future, is funny n gives a hint, forms a base to next part /Sequel.

***
My RATING is 8.5 / 10

*** COMPARISON OF THE MOVIES IN THIS FRANCHISE:

Can't really Rank any movie as the most or the least favourite, in this franchise.
My Rating for all 4 is the same n liked all 4 equally bcz one with more comedy, another with subtle comedy but all have serious stories.
And so ALL 4 MOVIES ARE ENTERTAINING n FUN TO WATCH!

In terms of Comedy,
PN 4 < PN 1 < PN 2 < PN 3

In terms of Story,
All have Serious Interesting Stories.
Story of PN 1 is a simple one while the other three have twists n little complicated stories.

Also, Watched this franchise long ago n remembered these as STANDALONE n UNRELATED MOVIES n need to watch all, just to know the background and the relations of the Recurring Characters.

But now when I re-watched all 4, realised that all 4 movies are RELATED, may not be a Proper n Direct SEQUEL to each other.
But One movie's storyline is taken from a scene or concept from the previous movie. That's how they are related.

For eg;
1) PN 2's main storyline "One old Monk n Buddha with Naga hood Amulet" is discussed in 1-2 scenes in PN 1 n are elaborated in PN 2 as the main story.

2) PN 3's "Past lives, stealing Golden Anklets etc" is depicted in PN 2 n are elaborated in PN 3 as the main story.

3) PN 4's Naga n Plan's character is shown in two scenes in PN 3 n are elaborated in PN 4 as the main story.

And so Need to watch all 4 movies in the same order to understand n enjoy the franchise.

Also, it's fun to watch the recurring cast n characters in the franchise😀
Actor Tar, literally grew up along with this franchise, haha 😂

***
Give a try! Especially Horror genre lovers who love to watch every type n a variety of Horror concepts👍🏻

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