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And so in my inane, silly, psuedo-clever movie
reviewer title sums up the ENTIRE plot of this movie.
The head of a sacred Buddha statue is stolen from Ting's
(Tony Jaa) village and he, trained in the arts of Muay Thai,
the deadly monk Thai martial art is sent to reclaim.
Okay, now you can watch it without the subtitles.
This not OldBoy, blowing away your plot expectations and
shocking you. That's not what this is about.
This is the most classic, and in many ways the most cliché,
action movie, hero story plot we've got. Our hero is
pure good. Uncorruptable, untemptable, so good no one
even bothers to tempt him. In the first Bangkok scene
we see a low-level gangster wearing an Al Pacino Scarface
t-shirt. That represents all that is evil and bad;
lust for the money, the power, and the women. None of
these tempt our hero... literally, not for a second.
Our hero's "partner" is "George" a name he's given himself
since he left Ting's village for the high life of Bangkok,
which he just can't seem to get a piece of, no matter how
hard he tries. He's a schemer, and conniver and a
cheat. He's the anti-Ting. He won't help Ting
because he's lost all reverence for religion and the "old
ways". Ting cannot understand this, and soon decides
not to trust him. But he can't abandon him because he
is still a cousin from the village of Pradu, and he must
protect him. George is also his in to the world where
the Ong Bak, the Buddha head has been taken. Ting is
willing to risk his life for the Ong Bak and for good, and
the protection of innocents. The plot goes
from here in the most un-surprising way you can imagine, the
character you're expecting to make a turn back to the good
side, doing just that and the hero fighting all odds to
accomplish his goal and defend his village and his God.
And that's why the movie gets a Solid and not higher.
Not too enthused? That's fine, if all of the above is
against everything you go to the movies to see, than it
would be just like renting an 80s action movie or a Jimmy
Stewart western. There's only black and white, no
gray, plenty of absolutes for all you Sith our there.
HOWEVER, if you are looking for some UNBELIEVABLE,
COMPLETELY REAL, NO COMPUTER ENHANCEMENT, ZERO WIRE, MIND-BLOWINGLY
COOL action sequences... here you go. DAMN.
Again, remember, no WIRES. The action is brutal and
completely honestly choreographed. Jaa is a master and
rules the screen when he's fighting. He plays his
character decently and moves the plot along, but what you're
waiting for is when he fights, and don't worry, you won't
wait long. The movie is cool. End of story.
Pure martial arts brilliance, pure adreneline violence and
pit fights that will leave your jaw open. Oddly low on
blood, the action relies on the truly miraculous and frankly
painful stunts, that will wow you until you are incapable of
wowing any more... and then you will wow some more.
Build on a strong framework of starting with the little wows
and working its way up the later to HUGE wows, the film
makes you keep thinking they can't possibly top the last
stunt. And then, of course, they do. In the
climax battle, Ting blocks a SAW attack with his forarms,
creating what is the most painful blade violence I've seen
in some time. When the saw is pulled, for another
attack, out of his forearm, there's actually a plop and a
pop. Yes, I know they didn't actually maim Tony, but
damn does it look and sound real. The movie
is an action movie buffs orgasm. That's really all
that can be said. And while even some of the action
moves are predictable (I called the flaming leg attack
before it happened) it doesn't at all take away from the
beauty of seeing it. The beauty of this for American
audiences is that Thai fighting is very different from
Chinese and Japanese martial arts, boasting a hail of knees
and elbows, the fighting still graceful but very focused on
bludgeoning. An elbow to the top of the head in the
climax almost gave me a headache. I've
been waiting to see this film for awhile, and I wasn't
disappointed in the action one bit. I will admit I was
a bit disappointed in the somewhat pedestrian plot, but for
that I should blame myself. This is an action
smorgasbord, and it pretends to be nothing but that.
Tony Jaa could be our next Jet Li, the clock quickly ticking
on his first American movie with a rapper, or maybe, just
maybe, Hollywood will team the two up in a GOOD film with a
REAL plot and we'll be treated to some brainnumbing moves
AND a killer plot. Oh, if only Kurosawa were still
alive, he'd know what to do with such talent.
Highly recommended for a viewing of awe. This is a
truly a kick-ass ride. |
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Ong Bak. For
Real!
by Joe De Matteo
Super
There was a time when you went to the
movies and watched Good vs. Evil. There were the
lost people, and the ones who lacked understanding
or direction and were living incongruous lives, yes,
but there was no gray between Good and Evil.
Some time in ‘the sixties’ Hollywood
started giving us a diet of immoral people as
heroes. Like Alfie and The Good, The Bad and The
Ugly, both in 1966. |
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You know, my Uncle Nick used to say something to the
effect of, when you hear someone say ‘the end
justifies the means,’ you should understand that he
is saying, ‘I’m a self-centered person with out a
moral compass; I can’t be trusted.’ These are
people who make up their morality to fit the outcome
they want. They are not Good people.
With Star Wars George Lucus got us back to this
eternal battle, that wages each day in every place
that humans are. I’m told that many Asian films
have this wonderful quality. Good vs. Evil with
humanity crawling around in the middle. |
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Ong Bak, in the classic sense, is an epic. The
Hero, Ting, is Good. His opponents are Evil. Ting,
a student of a school of martial arts called Muay
Thai, is under strict orders by his master and
teacher not to fight. But a quest falls to Ting
when the head of Ong Bak, the village god, is stolen
by a gang from Bangkok. Among its other venture the
gang ‘acquires’ antique religious articles for the
black market. Another venture of the gang is
gambling on pit fighting. And it is here, in the
pit-fighting den, that Ting finds himself in the
struggle to retrieve Ong Bak.
The DVD allowed me to view the movie English dubbed,
in Thai with English subs and just in Thai, it was a
wonderful experience each time.
The other
great experience of this film is to watch it with
the understanding that there is NO CGI, none!
No stunt doubles, and that the actors are NOT on
wires and cranes. Everything you see is live
action. Tony Jaa is a master, I've never
seen anyone jump over something by raising his legs
parallel to the ground, out in front of himself.
It is amazing to watch.
I own the
DVD, you should too. |
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