Ong Bak 2 (2008)

Too much of everything

everything you have heard about this movie is true.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Firstly I am not of Thai descent so this is my perspective as an Indian. I have always been interested in learning about and understanding different cultures. I have seen a lot of Chinese films and I have really wanted to know about Thailand as there are many similarities. Like the worship of Ganesh and Hanuman as forms of God.I enjoyed this movie as I saw a lot of Thai culture, villages, and ancient civilisations. I felt it was truly beautiful. The elephant scenes were also spectacular. Ong Bak 1 was good but for me it just seemed western, maybe that is how Thailand is today but Ong Bak 2 and 3 has shown me a lot.I think Tony Jaa should take on real Thai fairy tales and folk stories like Ramayan. I can see him play Hanuman really really well. Especially if he goes to Hollywood, he should keep it like The forbidden Kingdom. Show Thai and Indian civilisation like that.I can see Tony Jaa play a funny, warm, bubbly and fast Hanuman in an English Ramayan. I think he should join the new movie Rama: Rise of Dharma which is being made in Britain.

This is a disappointing sequel that just doesn't have enough Tony Jaa action. In fact this movie has just about nothing to do with the first Ong Bak. Except maybe for the statue and slight other stuff. And Tony Jaa who is a different character named Tien. And the story takes place way before the first Ong Bak. It reminded me of that crappy live action "The Jungle Book" movie than a legit straightforward martial arts flick. It tries to incorporated more story elements in this movie but it just doesn't work and the pacing is just so slow. I was like okay can we get to Tony Jaa fighting yet. The training segments are alright but basically the only distinguishable part is the last fight scene in this movie. I guess muy thai has already gotten boring cause the main focus when it comes to fighting style this time. When it comes to the story I will just say it has been done many times before but has been done better. It isn't a painful movie to sit through but disappointing overall.5.9/10

I had the premonition of disaster when I saw Tony Jaa's name in the list of scriptwriters and then my heart sank when he was also listed as one of the directors. Some random kingdom is expanding and killing people in Thailand, 600 odd years back. Jaa's family is massacred and he is adopted by a pirate gang who give him the mandatory weapons training so that he can go and f**k everybody's ass some day. This is as unintentionally hilarious as they come. The costumes, the set pieces, the acting, the story all fall into the category of "so bad that they are good". There are flashback scenes which show the family members of Jaa being knocked off. They are howlarious and you cannot stop laughing. There is the omnipresent gratuitous violence against women. In between Jaa also becomes a sort of Robinhood against human trafficking. Ong Bak was entertaining as it had the right dose of humor and action along with a straight story line. Here, there is only a "dark" tale of revenge which is so ineptly directed that it will cure the sleeping disorder of even the most hardened insomniacs. This is what is called Brand Dilution in marketing jargon. Ong Bak was a respectable product. They came up with this just to earn a few quick bucks. The ironical part is that they failed even in that. 1 out of 5 for this.

Aside from beautiful scenery and some cool fight scenes, this was pretty bad. Every stereotype is here: black and white heroes and villains, a paper-thin plot involving avenging a father's death (complete with corny flashbacks), and hilariously bad dubbing. Not only were the voice actors clearly white Americans living in the 21st century, they emphasized the wrong words and sounded like they were reading from a notecard. I could have done a much better job! But if it weren't for this unintentional source of comedy, I would have felt like I wasted my time. See it with you friends while having pizza and beer and are looking for muy-thai and ironic laughs.