Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

The storyline is predictable, but the visual and the fights makes up for it. I understand why people compare the lead actor with Jet Li. They both have that presence on screen, the amazing flexibility and fighting sequences. Outstanding acrobatic movements when running from the bad guys in the street and it was good to see the shots from different angles.

It reminds me of some Jet Li's better fighting sequences before he took to the wires. This is the kind of martial arts film that makes me smile and cheer.

If you like martial arts films, then you'll sure to like this.

I saw Ong-Bak for the first time on the Stockholm Film Festival in November of 2003, and now recently saw it again on DVD. I usually see at least 4-5 Asian films on the festival every year and each one is a gamble. At worst Asian action films can be unbearably slow and dull with uninteresting action scenes and horrible acting. At their best they can be like a wonderful ballet with astonishing moves and moods. Ong-Bak falls somewhere inbetween these two.

The story and set-up in Ong-Bak is nothing very original. The head of the village Buddha-statue (named Ong-Bak) is stolen which spells bad luck for the village. So they send their best man to the city to find the son who moved away, and they can search for the head together. Of course the villager is completely lost in the city and soon gets himself into trouble.

So the story is nothing new, neither is the setup which is more or less van Damme standard fare movies like "Lionheart" except in Thailand. We see some street-fighting and some tournament-style fighting in seedy bars. So, what makes Ong-Bak stand out? Well, the fighting! I have seldom seen such well-made fighting scenes. Both well choreographed and plentiful! The thai-boxing done here might be very stylized to look good, but it really does the trick. The fights are simply put amazing! The lead actor really knows his moves and his acrobatics, and many times you can really feel the crushing hits as kicks and elbows hit home. Also the pace is very high with almost constant fighting in the last half of the movie. And it all looks very very nice.

So, Ong-Bak is definitely for those of you who are suckers for martial-arts and fighting. Don't expect an original story or terribly solid acting. But expect a fun ride, lots and lots of violence. And for me that's enough. Ong-Bak receives a 7/10.

Version: Edko's Hong Kong VCD release

In only their first movie, director Prachya Pinkaew and lead actor Tony Jaa have created a very impressive, awesome action movie in "Ong Bak". Jaa plays Ting, a muay thai fighter from a small village in Thailand. The villagers revere Ong Bak, a statue of Buddha kept in the village's temple, and believe it guarantees the safety of the village. Don, a former villager turned criminal, removes the head from the statue and takes it to Bangkok, to curry favour from the crime lord Khom Tuan. Ting follows Don to Bangkok and fights for the return of Ong Bak.

Story wise, its a pretty standard action movie - it touches briefly on serious social issues in Thailand, but only very briefly. Action wise, its a pretty awesome action movie. Tony Jaa is pretty good showing off his muay thai skills on screen as he fights a range opponents. Most of the one-on-one fights are well choreographed and quite intense. As for stunts: some of them would make even old-school Jackie Chan green with envy. Jaa and Pinkaew have hit the nail right on the head when it comes to action movies, and in only their first go!

9/10 - Hopefully I can catch it on the big screen some time.

Ting lives in a village where they worship the statue of Ong-bak. When an unscrupulous young man comes to the village to buy valuable goods, he steals the head and returns to Bangkok where he gives it to his boss – a crime lord who presides over illegal pit fights and steals historical artefacts. Ting goes to Bangkok to join up with former villager Humlae (who now is a street hustler and calls himself George). However, once there, he finds that the only way to get the head back is to kick and elbow people. Lots.

Before I talk about the main (only?) reason to see this film, let me at least pretend that it is meant to operate like a normal film and look at the traditional aspects that give a film value – plot, acting, characters etc. First off, the plot is very basic, so basic that really I could have done it in a sentence and still given you more than you needed to know. Happily it only really last 15 minutes before we are given the first of many, many action scenes. Within this basic frame it is no surprise that none of the characters work or are developed to a point were we care about them – this is a given, but why then did the film still labour under the idea that we did? I didn't care that much for any of them, because none were written as people – only action figures or one-note characters (ie the girl who is suffering due to crime, the crimelord, the middleman etc etc).

With this, perhaps it is no surprise that the performances are roundly average. Wongkamlao is pretty funny but can't do much more than that – but he looks like Brando at his best compared to the wooden and unconvincing Yodkamol. The rest of the cast fill their genre cliché shoes well enough; leaving us with the reason we are here – Jaa himself. Now, as an actor, he needs work – he can't really deliver a character, seems unsure of how to handle comedy and, despite having a good screen presence, didn't convince delivering dialogue neither. However, none of this really matters does it? I didn't come for plot, narrative, script, acting or directing – I came to se people get kicked and, by god, that is what this film delivers.

Without wires and without special effects, the fight scenes had the cinema audibly reacting with gasps and groans as Jaa did things that did not seem possible but also delivered some very, very brutal moves that made even the toughest in the room wince. Of course, a film that relies solely on action is never going to be one that manages to win praise beyond the bounds of the genre, but it helps that, within that genre it blows away a lot of competition and justifies its UK wide cinema release. Rest assured, it is stunning at times and, although it niggles that the film is set around the action (as opposed to vice versa) it is forgivable when it is this enjoyable! Overall, not a brilliant film by any means but one that really delivers in terms of what it sets out to do. Action fans will love it and those that thing martial arts started with the Matrix will find out just how much more compelling action is whenever it isn't being produced on a hard drive somewhere. With a plot so basic, acting so poor and characters so thin, it speaks volumes about the quality of the action that I was engaged and entertained from start (well, ten minutes in) to finish.

Saying that Ong Bak was a bad movie because of the weak story is like saying that the Simpsons is a bad series because of the lack of continuity from show to show.

YOU'RE MISSING THE POINT! The story is only there to loosely tie together the fact that this guy is being a badass. Which he is. There were only a FEW fight scenes? What are you talking about? There were so many fight scenes and chase scenes and the like. Every time you thought you saw the coolest thing ever, he breaks out another move that STILL totally blows you away. The only reason that this movie exists is simply to showcase Phanom Yeerum's skills as a martial artist and an acrobat, which frankly, is enough for me.

*sigh* If you care so much about story, steer clear. If you have any interest whatsoever is the GENRE of martial arts movies (where the quality of the story is usually not the primary concern), watch this movie. You won't be sorry.