- 2,760
Just saw it tonight, and though the Toronto Star gave it three out of four stars, I think that was a bit high. The storyline is next to ridiculous, with some mad Thai crimelord stealing the heads - and sometimes the entire statues - of religious figures such as Buddhas and the titular Ong-Bak for some unknown reason (perhaps there are rich tycoons with a penchant for owning defiled pieces of religious relics living nearby). Whatever the plot, the real reason for this movie is to serve as a vehicle for the amazing Tony Jaa to demonstrate his Muay Thai skills.
The first half hour of the film is BORING. There is a lot of talking and no fighting. When Jaa finally gets to show off in a seedy underground fight club (owned and operated by the aformentioned crimelord) things look like they will start to get good. however, Jaa's first fight consists of him knocking his opponent unconscious with one blow. Not very exciting.
It doesn't help that the movie is EXTREMELY poorly lit. At one point, Jaa squares off against a fighter wearing all black, and you literally cannot see him at all against the backdrop of the crowd in many shots.
There is also perhaps the most confusing and ill-organized chase scenes in movie history in this film. It involves Jaa and his comedy sidekick (yes, there's one of those in the movie) at first chasing the henchman who originally stole Ong-Bak's head, but they are in turn being chased by all of said henchman's henchmen (?). Add to this the fact that they're all driving these weird open-concept three-wheeled taxi vehicles that I assume can only be found in Thailand and you've got one big mess on your hands. About two minutes into the chase not only had I forgotten who was chasing who, I could no longer tell who was who.
Now for the good part. The last twenty minutes or so of the movie is where the whole thing redeems itself. Most of the trailer shots come from this climactic battle in a cave where the crimelord is overseeing his latest act of thievery, the dismemberment of a huge stone Buddha statue's head from its body. Jaa goes through the henchmen like a warm knife through butter, but the trick here is that the blows he inflicts actually look like they hurt. A lot. Plus there are no wires or stuntmen, a fact which makes watching Jaa flip and fly through the air all the more amazing to watch.
Thus, I would give this movie two and a half stars out of four, or three out of five if you like that better. Either way, it's worth seeing for the last scene alone, and I hope Jaa's talents can be used in the future by filmmakers who know how to light a movie.
The first half hour of the film is BORING. There is a lot of talking and no fighting. When Jaa finally gets to show off in a seedy underground fight club (owned and operated by the aformentioned crimelord) things look like they will start to get good. however, Jaa's first fight consists of him knocking his opponent unconscious with one blow. Not very exciting.
It doesn't help that the movie is EXTREMELY poorly lit. At one point, Jaa squares off against a fighter wearing all black, and you literally cannot see him at all against the backdrop of the crowd in many shots.
There is also perhaps the most confusing and ill-organized chase scenes in movie history in this film. It involves Jaa and his comedy sidekick (yes, there's one of those in the movie) at first chasing the henchman who originally stole Ong-Bak's head, but they are in turn being chased by all of said henchman's henchmen (?). Add to this the fact that they're all driving these weird open-concept three-wheeled taxi vehicles that I assume can only be found in Thailand and you've got one big mess on your hands. About two minutes into the chase not only had I forgotten who was chasing who, I could no longer tell who was who.
Now for the good part. The last twenty minutes or so of the movie is where the whole thing redeems itself. Most of the trailer shots come from this climactic battle in a cave where the crimelord is overseeing his latest act of thievery, the dismemberment of a huge stone Buddha statue's head from its body. Jaa goes through the henchmen like a warm knife through butter, but the trick here is that the blows he inflicts actually look like they hurt. A lot. Plus there are no wires or stuntmen, a fact which makes watching Jaa flip and fly through the air all the more amazing to watch.
Thus, I would give this movie two and a half stars out of four, or three out of five if you like that better. Either way, it's worth seeing for the last scene alone, and I hope Jaa's talents can be used in the future by filmmakers who know how to light a movie.
Over-hyped? All my buds and I never even knew this film existed. I dont know, might have been over-hyped were you live but never heard of this film till I saw a preview of it from a DVD I bought. Anyways just wanted to point that out. 
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