Ong Bak 2

Tony Jaa is back in his first directorial effort (co-directing to be more specific) and the man delivers everything you would expect from a solid martial arts flick, and then some more.

The spiritual sequel to Ong Bak is quite an ambitious film, showing a wide diversity of fighting styles, using ancient thai history as the background. Jaa has certainly done his homework, because the movie has a strong old school HK vibe, but with a crude and gritty look. The plot is pretty much your standard martial arts/shaw bros 101 premise: hero takes revenge of his fallen comrades/family and so on, he begins as a weak victim to transform into a kick-ass machine. Nothing that any respectable MA movie aficionado haven't seen before, but the movie does it right and believable enough to engage the viewer. Not a complex story, but the motivations of the characters are convincing enough to move things on.

The fight sequences are effective, never repetitive and quite intense. I mean, if you can't enjoy a movie that has everything from crocodile fights to ninjas, samurais, elephants, people fighting like crows and leopards, a guy that throws daggers and another guy that uses explosives then you might want to report back to mother ship, because the goods of this planet are just too much for you. The abrupt ending, while anti-climatic, doesn't kill the mood of the film.

Far better from what anyone could expect, no idea why this go trashed by some people. Is no classic but it's a perfectly decent time waster. Which is more from what it can be say about other movies stuffing multiplexes these days.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is not a continuation of the first film, neither is it a prequel in the true sense; the story takes place several hundred years ago, and tells of Tien (played as an adult by Tony Jaa), the son of a murdered lord, who becomes a powerful warrior after a clan of outlaws adopt him and teach him their combat skills.

This period setting allows for a far more epic feel than the first film, but the broader scope of the plot ultimately means less minutes devoted to pure, bone crunching action, a fact that has understandably disappointed those hoping for another relentless, adrenaline fuelled, juggernaut of a martial arts movie. Add the fact that Jaa's impressive Muay Thai skills are often overlooked in favour of weapons based action, and it's not surprising that this film hasn't been as overwhelmingly well received as its predecessor.

On a more positive note, the film looks absolutely fantastic, with beautiful cinematography, sumptuous costumes, and some truly outlandish characters, and when the action does kick into top gear, it is utterly breath-taking, especially during the flawlessly executed, bone-crunching final battle between Tien and a host of enemy warriors, where we finally get to see the star delivering his trademark punishing blows with knee and elbow.

In short, Ong Bak 2 is a very enjoyable slice of solid action entertainment—not quite as jaw-dropping as part one, but then what is?

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Set in 15th Century Thailand, the subtitled "Ong Bak: 2" brings little that is new to the martial-arts genre - but a barrel load of impressive fight scenes and an authentic look make it worthwhile viewing for the aficionado. It's the oldie about a young boy who is trained to become a righteous warrior, standing up for the innocent and the helpless against a cruelly oppressive regime.

As noted, there isn't much in the way of storytelling, dialogue and characterization to distinguish "Ong Bak: 2" from the countless other films in this category, but the battle scenes are impressively staged and mounted, with a brutality that, while it makes them hard to watch at times, seems an accurate reflection of the era in which it's set. Moreover, directors Panna Rittikrai and Tony Jaa (who plays the lead role) never feel the need to prettify the setting, offering up a screen full of snaggle-toothed, matted-locked extras to go along with all the muck and mud.

Tien, ace martial arts fighter and tamer of elephants, takes on a half-a-dozen opponents at a time, slicing-and-dicing and karate-chopping them into the dust, only to have them rise again to face a second, third, even fourth humiliating go-round at his punishing hands. It's 100% absurd and just about everything a die-hard martial arts fan could wish for from such a film.

With a storyline reminiscent of Japanese video games and Samurai classics, it is nice to see this genre back on the big screens. The action sequences muscle out the storyline a bit, but they remain quite spectacular to watch. Tony Jaa clearly left a piece of his soul on the celluloid for the next generation to remember him by. The scenes are beautifully framed, full of color and contrast. All I felt that was missing was a control pad between my fingers and the freedom to take the character around the village to search for hidden treasure.

If the movie leaves you scratching your head a little at the end, you are not alone. However I suspect that it implies that a sequel is in the works and I am in favor for that. It is great seeing the epic martial art films back on the big screen, with a devoted cast ensuring the audience that they will get their money's worth. It is the best film in this genre that I have seen in a good long while.

There's no doubt I've been a fan of movies starring Tony Jaa with the likes of Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong being showcases for the Muay Thai brand of martial arts, and I fondly remember those hard hitting action sequences that left me gaping, as well as the numerous replays just to drum it through to you that it's all Jaa and it's all as incredible as can be. And who can forget the latter film with that amazing single take where Jaa had to pound his way from the bottom of a building right to the top? Ong Bak 2 is a film fans like myself have been waiting for, despite it being marred by some really strange controversy, which also included Jaa walking off the set and disappearing from production. But everything's been sorted I guess, for the film to be completed and finally released.

While it's rocking the box office in Thailand, I wonder whether it's because of the controversies that had piqued everyone's interest, or it's because the long break of 3 years had made everyone salivate at Jaa's long awaited return to the big screen. I wonder because while there are numerous moments in the film that I thoroughly enjoyed, I felt that it fell short too on other areas that had left me shifting in my seat, especially during the first hour.

And the biggest culprit of it all, would be the ending. Tony Jaa wrote this story, and credit to him too in trying to weave together some semblance of a worthy story instead of the more obvious and easier whack-fest end to end. But the ending was somewhat of a cop out, and a disappointment, as it leads potentially and very directly to a third movie to resolve the issues the storyline had left hanging. It could have easily stretched it to say, 20 minutes more to get everything settled, but I guess there were grander plans to the tale that needed another movie to tell. One only wishes that it does get made sooner rather than later, and without the production woes that plagued this one.

So Ong Bak 2 is actually half a movie, and given that it's a totally new story to begin with, I thought it would make better sense in retitling it, rather than to have a misnomer that it's a sequel. After all, the setting is now back in 15th century Thailand with totally new characters, with Jaa playing Tien, a man of royal lineage who's trying to avenge the death of his parents and entire household under the hands of rival warlords, and a masked man who delivered the killing blow to his dad. The first half of the movie had him learn from a band of bandits called the Garuda Wing Cliff, where a number of highly skilled exponents teach him all there is to know about their respective fields. I remembered having read somewhere that there's supposed to be some fusion of dance and martial arts, which didn't transpire in this film as far as I can tell (the dance/action sequence here doesn't make the cut), so it might be left for the next movie instead.

Compared to the other Tony Jaa movies, you can see that the production values here have been ramped up tremendously.Techniques have also matured, and gone are the repetitive playbacks. But that doesn't mean you're going to lose out, because like any self-respecting martial arts film, the camera stays still when it should be and at a sane distance away to capture all the action comfortably, and the editing doesn't cut in and mess up the sequence.

While the filmmaker in Tony Jaa would have matured with this outing (he co-directed this), his maturity as a martial artist on film is now without a doubt. We only get flashes of his Muay Thai when it calls for some close combat involving elbows and knees right smack in the kisser, otherwise we see Jaa as a more complete martial arts practitioner with the employment of a vast array of weapons, from swords to three-section-staffs, and a host of recognizable kung-fu moves, one which also pays homage to the Drunken Fists, and I applaud Jaa's rendition of it too. As for the revered elephant, you know it's never far behind, and there's one thrilling battle atop the large mammal, with Dan(ce) Chupong no less, albeit hidden behind a mask.

Ong Bak 2 picked up very slowly, and spent significant time developing the back story of Jaa's Tien. And unfortunately, I do admit unabashedly that I was waiting for action sequence one after another, and those in the same boat will have to be patient. For action junkies, your appetite will only be satiated in the last act of the film, where it's vintage Jaa as he dishes out punishment, and receives much of the same in return. I detested the ending which wrapped everything up so conveniently (I don't buy the Karma bit), or left subplots such as the romantic angle as something to be dwelled upon later (though I believe romance never really was an issue at all in Jaa's movies), leaving doors wide open for another film.

Perhaps I should reserve my judgement of it until the next movie completes the story? So at this moment, we can still enjoy what Tony Jaa has prepared for action fans worldwide – a showcase that he's not just all about Muay Thai, but a bona fide action hero who's the real deal, crafting a myriad of incredible fight sequences that would still leave your mouth gaping wide open.