Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior Reviews

Recently, they released ‘The Raid: Redemption’, it became quickly a huge cult classic and it was hailed as the best action flick of the last 10 years. To be honest, I haven’t seen it yet and, somehow, I’m rather skeptical and the fact that Roger Ebert didn’t like the movie at all doesn’t help either. Anyway, 10 years before ‘The Raid: Redemption’, another movie was produced and was also called the next best thing in the martial-arts movie genre and, in the contrary of ‘The Raid: Redemption’ , I did watch it. Eventually, I thought that ‘Ong-Bak' was indeed pretty impressive but, to be honest, the story was nothing really mind-blowing. Of course, the action die-hard fans would argue that it doesn’t matter, that it is only about watching some bad-ass fight scenes but I don’t agree. Action scenes are way more compelling when they are inserted into a really good story (see for example ‘The Bourne Identity’). Here, you have the very old tale of the master killer fighter who of course doesn’t want to fight (such an old and boring gimmick…) but, obviously, he will have to fight at some point and, in the mean time, the audience is getting bored senseless. Still, when Tony Jaa finally gets going and kicks some ass, it was pretty damned impressive. Indeed, without any special effects, CGI or wires, the guy displays some of the most amazing fighting skills I have ever seen. To conclude, I’m not sure if it is really a masterpiece, the story is just too weak, but if only for the fighting scenes, it is definitely worth a look.

To fight for the honor of his village, he must unleash the ancient art of Muay Thai: 9 Body Weapons

It's always exciting to witness the birth of a new martial arts action star. Bruce Lee stunned movie-goers in Fists of Fury, Jackie Chan's early Hong Kong flicks wowed all who watched them, Jean-Claude Van Damme showcased his awesome fighting abilities in 1988's Bloodsport, and Steven Seagal made a promise he failed to live up to with Above the Law. 2003's Ong-bak continues this tradition, heralding the arrival of Thai superstar Tony Jaa whose phenomenal fighting and physical prowess is unparalleled. Like the films that introduced Jaa's martial arts predecessors, Ong-bak is low on story and originality - the feature's aim is to showcase the unbelievable skills of the lead performer and his audacious team of stuntmen, leaving viewers breathless at the sheer boldness of the on-screen physical feats. This Thai import is not a high quality flick by any critical standard, but it has enough visceral fighting to ensures that it's a lot of fun.

Like most actioners, the story of Ong-bak is the definition of simplicity. In a peaceful, rural Thai village, the head of a sacred Buddha statue - known as the Ong-bak - is stolen by a group of conventional bad guys looking to sell it on the black market. Enter Ting (Jaa), the village's most skilled martial artist who's awaiting his chance to be ordained as a monk. Ting volunteers to retrieve the head, and sets off to Bangkok in order to find those responsible for the blasphemous thievery. He meets con-artist Hum Lae - also known as Dirty Balls or George (Wongkamlao) - who claims to know the location of the man who stole the Ong-bak's head. Unfortunately, Ting also comes to realise that competing in illegal underground fighting will be the only way to get him closer to his goal.

From a script and narrative standpoint, Ong-bak is highly conventional, as it concerns a quest and a courageous warrior who's forced to conquer some of society's worst elements in order to make things right in the world again. The script is riddled with dumb clichés as well. For instance, at one stage Hum Lae and his young female friend Muay (Yodkamol) are being beaten up in the street just as Ting shows up. Later, the Main Bad Guy(TM) decides to have his men eliminate Ting and Hum, but asks them to carry out the executions after he has left with all the important people. And they don't even bother to tie up Ting or Hum, despite knowing about Ting's incredible fighting capabilities. The antagonistic crime boss' motives are also vague and confusing; he seems to dismiss the Ong-bak's head as garbage throughout the film, but it becomes a main part of his devious plan. This stuff is dishearteningly Hollywood-esque.

The only aspect of Ong-bak that's original is the action sequences, which boast some of the best fights you will ever see. Most martial arts films feature bloodless, over-choreographed brawls, but the fights here are incredibly vicious, utilising Jaa's favoured Muay Thai fighting style that mixes balletic movements with blunt brutality. The main selling point of Ong-bak is that the action is real, with no wirework, filmmaking trickery or digital effects to enhance the ability of the fighters. It's not that wire work is necessarily bad, but it's more breathtaking to see Jaa actually jumping over people and dangerous objects. For the most part it also looks like the performers kicked and punched each other for real! These moments will have you wincing, but they're nothing compared to Jaa blocking a razor-sharp saw with his arms or elbowing the top of an opponent's head. Ouch! Thankfully, the action was shot well, too; director Prachya Pinkaew eschewed the typical ultra-fast cuts that have become the standard in Hollywood.

The only drawback about the fights here is that Pinkaew repeated many of Jaa's moves in slow motion from multiple angles. It at times ruins the flow of the action, and it's particularly unnecessary in an era of home video when people can just rewind and re-watch whichever part they wish. Additionally, while Jaa is an excellent stuntman, he lacks the charisma of someone like Jackie Chan. To his credit, though, Jaa's performance is not necessarily bad; it's just that his screen presence is underwhelming. Thankfully, the rest of the cast are perfectly serviceable in their roles. The only problem is that Pumwaree Yodkamol - while extremely cute - has an irritating voice that quickly gets on one's nerves.

Ong-bak is not a thinking man's action movie - it's an action man's action movie. It's not perfect, but it should be atop any martial arts fan's list of flicks to watch. This is a lean, no-nonsense actioner which competently showcases Jaa's physical expertise without descending into tedium or being overly talky. Still, one can't help but wonder how amazing a Tony Jaa vehicle with a great script could be...

6.8/10