Ong-bak (2003)

Awww Yeeeeah. That's the best description of Ong-bak, I think, having been spurred to finally see it after experiencing Prachya Pinkaew's newest film, Chocolate. It follows Ting (Tony Jaa), a man with superior martial arts skills but a belief in pacifism, who is on a quest to reclaim the head of a sacred Buddha statue that was stolen from his village by a jerky gang member. He travels to Bangkok and meets up with Humlae (Petchtai Wongkamlao), a con artist who grew up in Ting's village but now goes by George as part of an effort to disguise his poor rural background.

George and his partner Muay (Pumwaree Yodkamol) are in debt to some thugs, so he steals the cash Ting had brought with him- essentially the fortune of the entire village. Ting tracks him to an underground fight club run by that jerky thieving gangster's boss, where George has gambled everything away. To win it back, Ting bests the reigning champion in a super awesome fight. The rest of the movie is mostly Ting fighting in the club to help George make money, engaging in thrilling chase sequences, and working to take down the gang boss and get back the sacred Buddha head. I saw this awhile ago so admittedly the exact plot is a little fuzzy in my memory.

This movie was just flippin badass. And kickass. And... coolass? Yes. The fight scenes were extraordinary- exciting, well-filmed, and very well-choreographed. Tony Jaa is so awesome, it's ridiculous. I didn't even understand how he could do have of the things he clearly did (it's a no wires, no stunt doubles kind of production). And even though Yodkamol and Wongkamlao do great jobs in their supporting roles, it's totally Jaa's movie. There is no great focus on character development or plot complexity, but that's totally ok. The filmmakers know we just want to see Ting battle villains in various urban (and one underground cave) locations. Like Chocolate, it gets sort of suddenly tragic at the end, which, while sad, does give the film a little more depth, I think. It's not all high kicks and running around dodging bullets- these are actual, capable bad guys that aren't hesitating to kill anyone in their way. But in general Ong-bak is a really fun, and very impressive action movie with good characters and excellent fight choreography. Check it out already!

4.5/5