You can't take just any actor, throw a pirate costume on him, stick him on a sailing ship and expect him to be like Johnny Depp in "Pirates of the Caribbean".

Yet that's what director Thanit Jitnukul thought when he made the kid-friendly seafaring adventure "Salad Ta Diaw Kab Dek 200 Ta".

Actor Saranyu Wongkra-chang may have a three-corner hat and an eye patch, but it takes more to be like Captain Jack Sparrow than a costume and a flask of whisky. Saranyu's bland Captain Rick fails to elevate the action and laughable special effects involving giant crabs, a vicious car-sized tortoise and a boat-swallowing octopus.

Rick is upstaged by the nine brats his character rescues, as well as his first mate Dow, played by the hard-kicking martial-arts actress Kessarin Ektawatkul ("Born to Fight", "Dangerous Flowers").

The real stars are the three boys and six girls. They were on a cruise ship with their parents, but are lost in a storm. They then join up with the dread pirate Rick, and help him battle a rival crew for a cache of treasure.

'Salad Ta Diaw' is playing in cinemas. More film listings are in To See, Pages 28-29.

By Wise Kwai

Daily Xpress