Ong-Bak (2004)

How sad is this?

Crappy film

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Blistering performances.

But great action. To be honest I have a lot of respect for this movie, it reminds me of those old Jackie Chan movies and Bruce Lee movies where the reliance of action was more on the skill and athleticism of the actors and not some fancy wire work. Tony Jaa has skills and moves that is a mix of both Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, pow! Knockout! Then he is doing stunts a la Jackie Chan. Which is a pretty damn sweet combination when you've grown up with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan. Tony Jaa may not have the same acting skills as Lee or the charisma of Chan but he makes up for it with his kind of boyish vulnerability. Except he is a proficient fighter in Muay Boran, the ancestor of Muay Thai. A fascinating martial art.The movie has acceptable acting. Which means it does not ruin the movie. It isn't great but it is sufficient. The director has skills to make the movie shift smoothly between humor and action. Oh, another great thing about Tony Jaa is he does not try hard to be funny, like Jackie Chan did. I respect Jackie Chan but sometimes he tries too hard to be funny. The characters were also pretty interesting, it made the movie kind of sweet to watch. The dynamic between the leads was pretty good. The fight scenes were staggering and awe inspiring. Although they had a tendency to drag, but that is only a good thing since I think martial art movies have to make you feel as if you've been in a fight and you're tired.Good action movie.

(75%) A hugely enjoyable all-action thrill ride that really does resemble Jet Li, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan movies. Tony Jaa may have very little to do in terms of actual acting, but without doubt this guy can fight. I have never seen so many people getting elbowed or kneed full force in the head or face. While every single fight is bone-crunchingly real looking, and I can only imagine how many performers got bruised and injured. The plot is 1980's video-game style simple, and if the Street fighter movie was even a little like this then it would have been a huge improvement. In all honesty I can't find any real substantial issue here, it's funny, deeply enjoyable, well-shot, exciting, and even through it's as deep as spilt milk, I'd still recommend this to anyone wanting a sharp jolt of fighting fun.

Ong-Bak is a sacred Buddha statute. Don is a dealer from Bangkok who steals the head. Ting (Tony Jaa) volunteers to bring back the idol for the desperate village. In the city, he finds George who keeps denying to be Humlae the son of a villager. George steals all of Ting's money from the villagers to bet on fights. Ting accidentally gets into an underground fight and takes down the champion. When George gets in trouble with thugs, he and Muay Lek are beaten up and are rescued by Ting. When they go back to the fight club, Ting is forced to fight against three consecutive opponents. In the end, he wins all the fights, wins the affections of the crowd, and finds Don who works for the evil Komtuan.There is a chase in the street about 30 minutes in. It is amazing. It is fun. It is hilarious. There are a lot of good hard fights. The story really serves to highlight the action and there is a lot of it. One thing is certain. Tony Jaa is an amazing acrobatic fighter.

"Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior" is a simple but exciting action film that centres around Ting (Tony Jaa)a young boy from the country who seems natural in the art of Muay Thai,abandons his village where he tracks down a diabolical kingpin who has stolen the sacred Buddha head in his village.I guess the title of my review says it all that I was most impressed with the action of the movie because it refrains from depending on cheap CGI graphics or any kind of essential wiring. You will be mesmerized at how agile Tony Jaa is as he naturally defies gravity to doge or escape his adversaries.Jaa had to lean and master the art of Muay Boran in four years in preparation for this movie. There is no glorified golden-boy Hollywood stars posing as fighters just to make themselves look formidable. This is the real deal guys and girls. Muay Boran's fighting comes from the usage of elbow and knee strikes that customized to painful and quite brutal. This is not a tournament specialized for entertainment value. Jaa looks primed to follow the footsteps of the legendary action star Bruce Lee by utilizing real authentic fighting manoeuvres in order to making the action genre the way it should be really executed.Of course the key component to make the film credible of making the movie entertaining, the fight scenes were stylish, orchestrated and highly edited which in the end makes the fight scenes at time seem superficial. But one thing that's guaranteed is that these bad guys are really getting hurt. When Jaa plants a huge knee to someone's skull, they can feel the impact while we watch with amazement that devoid of any camera trickery. And these blows are shown through slow-motion as a visual indicator that it's all real.An added treat to this action packed film is the numerous chase scenes that spell Jackie Chan as Tony Jaa takes it to the air that would make Spider-Man green with envy.Sadly though, Jaa has not succeeded is building a strong charismatic structure that Lee, Chan or even Spider-Man possess. My guess is the script is where I'll lay the blame on. The script is quite clichéd and formulaic in the tradition of any Steven Seagal movie. But this is not a story driven movie. The action is what sells here and Jaa succeeds in doing that feat flawlessly. And his stunts look and feel so real even the viewers might feel squeamish at the pain inflicted during the action scenes.