ONG-BAK: MUAY THAI WARRIOR d: Prachya Pinkaew
Ong-Bak / Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior / Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior (2003)
Direction: Prachya Pinkaew
Screenplay: Prachya Pinkaew and Panna Rittikrai
Cast: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao
Fans of the martial arts genre should enjoy Prachya Pinkaew’s Ong-bak / Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, the tale of a young man lost in the city jungle while hunting for ruthless art smugglers who have stolen the head of his Thai village’s Buddha statue. That said, Ong Bak will probably fail to win many converts.
The film’s chief problem lies in Pinkaew and Panna Rittikrai’s screenplay, which happens to be a pile of hoary clichés — e.g., country people = kindness, courage, honest labor, love, tree-climbing; city people = dishonesty, cowardice, easy money, sex, fight-clubbing. And all this in a movie that aims to be as slick as your average (big-city made) music video and as violent as your average free-for-all brawl.
Compounding matters, Ong-bak drags quite a bit (a mortal sin for a mindless action flick), its humor is puerile (unless you find it hilarious to watch people being hit in the head, stomach, crotch, and other body parts), and most of the performers just go along for the ride. Ah, the film could also be accused of being racist: many of the men our pure Asian hero tears to pieces in fight clubs are sleazy, cheating Caucasians.
On the positive side, Tony Jaa is not only an outstanding athlete-cum-fighter — he reportedly performed his own stunts without the help of wires or digital enhancements — but he is also what is often referred to as "star material." Now, all Jaa needs is a decent vehicle that will allow him to display both his astonishing athletic skills and his considerable charisma.
Reviewed at the AFI FEST.
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Tags: Film Reviews, Martial Arts Movies, Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior, Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior, Prachya Pinkaew, Thai Cinema, Tony Jaa
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