Ong-Bak

Title: Ong-Bak
Rating: 4/5
Genre: Action
Starring: Tony Jaa
Language: Thai

Proudly mentioning the lack of stunt doubles, CGI and special effects they were right in doing so, for the natural feel of the action scenes starkly contrasts many action films being produced today that are filled with ever more ridiculous stunts in an attempt to better those that preceded it. Ironically, the realism that this presents feels more powerful than the greatest of special effects, harking back to the days of the martial arts masters that have long been lost in time. When viewing an action film, it is the action that takes precedence over all other factors. I don’t go in looking for a strong plot or acting capabilities, and whilst this feels like a simple vehicle for the talents of Tony Jaa it delivers where it matters.

From a small village the action soon gets under way when the evil Don steals the revered head of Ong-bak for his wheelchair-bound, mechanical voice box wielding master, and with their cultural celebration only weeks away, it falls on Ting (Jaa) to hunt him down and retrieve the head. With the help of his estranged brother George/Humlae, now a failing con man, and his partner in crime Muay, he soon gets tangled up in the underground fighting circuit. Winning the respect of his brother (through brute force) he eventually agrees to help track down the stolen statue head, culminating in the inevitable collision of Ting and Don.

The acting was altogether rather poor, at times attempting to strike an emotional chord and failing miserably, it is perhaps fortunate these scenes aren’t dwelled on for long. Jaa himself is given little opportunity to portray more than the confused ‘whats happening’ style of acting, and whilst it would be intriguing to see that he isn’t a moron at some point, constitutes a comparatively minor gripe. The female, Muay, was more often than not whiny toned and annoying, though she filled a gap that needed to be filled. Instead, the only real commendation as far as the acting is concerned arrives from the comic relief character of Humlae, his expressions and cries of ‘how do you do that?’ when running through the streets, or his early failed con attempts providing the only respite between the many sequences of action.

And it is the action that should be most heavily criticised here, as without decent choreography the whole piece would fall apart. Without wires or CGI it presents a gritty realism as you see every punch and move he makes, excelling beyond most – if not all – contemporary attempts at such. With a variety of opponents from the mentally deranged to the western wrestlers, even coming face to face with another master of Muay Thai the choreography showed great consideration, perhaps at times overusing certain moves, it nonetheless remained gripping to watch. The only drawback as far is this is concerned is that of the editing, deciding to utilise a slow-motion replay of many of the harder-hitting blows, resulting in a video-game feel that was only a commentators cry of “KO” short of being ridiculous.

The story is cliché and overdone, the typical ‘redemption’ story serving as a basic plot to twine together the various fight scenes, even down to the details of the wheel chair bound boss and the rather one-dimensional Don following his orders. The plot can be described as shaky at best, and the acting is fairly awful, but this shouldn’t matter as that was never the point. Since Bruce Lee’s demise and Jackie Chan’s decision to go into bad comedy the genre has seen a vacancy; one that looks set for Tony Jaa to fill.