Movie Review: Ong-Bak Muay Thai Warrior

[Kev]

Some of the guys and myself decided to guy see this flick. Being a martial arts fan i was stoked from the get go.

Although there have been a number of successful martial artists who became movie stars, Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Dam, Wesley Snipes none as far as i'm concerned ever had that screen presence like BRUCE LEE. I thought Bruce Lee with his amazing speed, strength and skill as a martial artist was one in a million until i saw Tony Jaa in "Muay Thai Warrior." Tony Jaa aka Panom Yeerum in his homeland of Thailand is the real deal.

This fighter slash actor has alot of the same qualities i saw in Bruce Lee. Speed, agility, skill, strength hes really i sight to see on film. From his first encounter with a bad ass in the ring where he drops his opponent with a roundhouse knee strike to the chest to some of the acrobatic twisting flipping kicks this actor is amazing. There was no special effects, no strings, no stunt men. It was just Tony Jaa doing his thing.

The movie was subtitled and revolves around the head (Ong-Bak) of a statue being stolen by some thugs from Ting's(Tony Jaa) village and taken to Bangkok. The monks send Ting to retrieve it. After this.......who cares? Its all about good overcoming evil and thats what this film delivers. There are lots of fight scenes and chases to keep everyone happy.

The story i rate a 5. This movie is about fighting. Nothing else matters.
For the action i rate a 7. The action was good considering Hollywood wasn't involved.
For the fight scenes i rate a 9. Theres always room for improvement. If Tony Jaa was a stock i would invest heavily.

This film is a must see if your a martial arts fan. I give it 2 thumbs up. Click on the trailer to get a small glimpse. www.ongbak-lefilm.com --- Kev.

 

[HankQuinlan]

It's refreshing to see real stunts in a movie, too --- not digital effects. Another bonus is the Thai settings --- making use of vendors' wares along Bangkok streets, tuk tuk chases, and the evil farangs he beats up in the muay thai matches. Makes a nice variation on the chop socky movies.

He's definitely got the goods. If the kid becomes the next big thing, his handlers would be wise to focus on his real strengths and not make the action too slick. They could focus on better scripts, though.

 

[TantheMan]

For a sub-titled movie it was great.

I too would recommend seeing it on the big screen.

 

[Marvin]

Sorry I missed it Kev - another time.

 

[Fotura]

That's the difference between North American and Asian audiences; story and plot vs. action.

Asian action movies use the plot to move from one action scene to another. It's all about the action, this is why Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon didn't do as well in the Asian market as it did here. Good story but not enough action.

Hollywood focuses more on a story and the action as a result of that plot.

I'm glad they left the movie undubbed because quite a bit does get lost in translation. I've found this is also why so many Asian movies seem so campy is because they translation is really poor. I saw an old Jackie Chan movie when it first came out back in the early 80's. Hailed as the best movie since Bruce Lee's Big Boss. I saw it again recently on DVD translated and it missed a lot in the translation and just ended up sounding dumb. I switched back to the translation to Chinese and enjoyed it more.

 

[skyboy]

Available on DVD

Go to an asian DVD store and buy the movie for 20 bucks!

 

[Kev]

Sorry I missed it Kev - another time.

No problemo Marv. Another time. --- Kev