Ong-bak

In terms of sheer athleticism and martial artistry, Tony Jaa certainly lives up to his billing as 'the Next Bruce Lee'. He puts the kick into this quick-fry Thai fightfest that mixes dynamic set-pieces with skull-splitting one-on-ones. It should also remind fans of the Crouching Hero, Flying Dagger brand of Eastern blockbuster (including myself) that Oriental action cinema was founded on action without safety nets, never mind all that fancy wirework and colour-coordinated mysticism.

But for all his physical prowess, Jaa falls short of Bruce Lee (and even Jet Li) when it comes to charisma, sounding nervous and looking slightly uncomfortable in the action-free scenes. Director Pinkaew perhaps recognises that Jaa will need time to build his own screen persona, so wisely gives him very little to say. I wish the same could be said of screechy female sidekick Muay who is both an irritation and a distraction. However, quibbling too much about the acting would be churlish.

Who cares that the plot's straight out of The A-Team when the adrenaline flows this thick and fast? The foot pursuit through Bangkok's backstreets is not just five minutes of pure exhilaration, it turns a few chase clichés on their heads (uh-oh, look out for those two guys carrying panes of glass across the road… hold on a minute!). There are even replays of the most jaw-dropping bits so that you can believe what you just saw.

Each decade ,the cinema produces a new martial arts hero .On the years 70s ,from Hong Kong arrived Bruce Lee,the Kung Fu hero whose shadow still moves about the cinematographic industry, thus successors were Wang Yu,Sonny Chiba,Sammo Hung...At the years 80s decade was Jackie Chan and still continuing.His amazing slickness united with a great humor sense and risk converted him in an international star.Also in years 8os were Japan and the Ninjas whose principal representation was Sho Kosugi.At the years 90s,Jet Li defied the gravity in a films series that would make a revolution in chop-socky genre.Today in this decade and with a new century has originated a new star.He comes from Thailand and is called Tony Jaa.

The picture deals about robbery a Buda head (Ong Bak) which is adored by a village people.A young,the Muay Thai warrior,is assigned to retrieve it, and he flies to the city where is allegedly found .Colourful,Backock-set chopsocky big budget, leave no cliché untouched,but fights are well staged with spectacular pursuits of Thailand typical cars.,He'll fight for a big match which turns out to be fixed by a local mobster .For a little more entertainment ,our hero saves an abducted girl and struggles a hired killers. The movie is well directed by Pinkaew. The motion picture will like to martial arts fans.

This movie is just great. There are no words to explain how classicly the actions has been choreographed. Tony Ja is simply great and beyond comparison. Bruce, Jet and Jackie took a couple of movies to reach the top in my favorite list..But Tony Ja is at the top in one shot. Sure I would add this movie as No.1 in my top 5 list of action movies ever. The first chase in the streets is one spectacular proof of Tony's efforts. The thai free style kickboxing is simply superb.

Sure a BIG feast for any action lovers.

Regards, Venkat.

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.