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Ong-Bak review
:. Director: Prachya Pinkaew
:. Starring: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao
:. Running Time: 1:45
:. Year: 2004
:. Country: Thailand
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One of the great things about film festivals is to fill in the gaps in your schedule with films chosen randomly that you have never heard of-of course it means taking a risk as the result can either be a good or a bad surprise. In this case, had I done my homework, I would have noticed that one of the distributors and executive producers was none other than ex-director reconverted uuml;ber-action-producer Luc Besson (La Femme Nikita, The Messenger) and would have run away as fast as possible.
Set in Thailand, Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior follows the journey of Boonting (Tony Jaa), a monk with spectacular martial art skills who must reclaim the head of a Buddha statue which was stolen from his village. His quest will bring him to the city and, after multiple fights, he will restore the pride of his town.
While the athletic skills of Jaa are certain, offering an interesting variation on the usual kung-fu/karate combo and a couple of interesting chases, the succession of redundant fights wears off pretty quickly, as one assailant after the other gets his due while a cheap electro-funk soundtrack—a gimmick you can find in most Besson productions such as Kiss of the Dragon, The Transporter & Taxi—gives you the feeling you are watching a demo for a video game. With his innocent looks, Jaa is never able to match the dangerous aura of a Bruce Lee and his approach, as an unlikely pure hero, isn't really convincing.
More problematic is the naïve message carried by the movie, putting in opposition the purity of the town to the corruption of the city. There is also an uncomfortable feeling in the way the film images from a third-world community—see the primitive customs and all the close-up shots of old people—to create both a sense of exoticism and pity.
With too many punches thrown in the air and some patronizing accents, Ong-bak quickly becomes one of these indigestible stinkers that populate the shelves of a Blockbuster near you.
Fred Thom
 Movie Reviews: Foreign Films
Reviews 2012 - present
Reviews 1998 - 2012
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