Any certified Disney Classic in which a major character utters the line, “the fate of the village rests in your hands” had better have some major redeeming qualities. Luckily, Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior also manages to make up for its wealth of cheesy one-liners with incredible fight scenes, which showcase the immense talent of the film’s unknown star, Tony Jaa.
Panom Yeerum was born in rural Thailand and trained in Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai, a Thai form of martial arts. He changed his name to Tony Jaa and began working as a stunt double for martial arts movies. His difficult, uncredited experience in previous movies is apparent, as the film boasts of having used no wires, trick camera work or stunt doubles.
Tony Jaa’s own sudden rise to fame, at least in Asia, to some extent mirrors the adventures of his character, Ting. Ting had spent his entire life in a small village in Thailand, raised by monks and trained in Muay Thai. Though he had become skilled and powerful, he was instructed never to use his training in the martial arts against another man. One day, a greedy black-market dealer from Bangkok comes and steals the head of the Ong Bak Buddha, a statue which brings the villagers good luck. Ting must go to the city and find his cousin, who will help him on his quest to retrieve the head of the Buddha.
None of this matters, however. The plotline merely provides an array of scenery for Jaa to show his skills, and apparently the writers were aware of this, because nothing in the plot even borders on originality. Ong Bak relies on the tremendous adrenaline rush of its fight scenes. The subtitles are practically a nuisance, because the conversations only drag out the times between the fights. There is no love story here, just shaky camera work and a no-stunt double guarantee. The story contains nearly every clich? ever written and sometimes crosses into unconscious self-parody. This is by no means a Quentin Tarantino-style martial arts movie, though it is the type of movie Tarantino might draw upon. The innocent country boy traveling to the big bad city, the wheelchair-bound evil crime boss, the hero versus 100 opponents fight scenes; we get all this and more in Ong Bak.
The wealth of such clich?s should not suggest that Ong Bak is any less enjoyable than more grandiose, beautifully filmed recent releases such as Hero or House of Flying Daggers. While it lacks the cinematography and emotional impact of these masterpieces, its relentless energy keeps you wondering what jaw dropping stunt Jaa will perform next. If you went to see House of Flying Daggers for its art direction and love story, then steer clear of Ong Bak. But if you want to see a young up-and-coming action star in a role reminiscent of Bruce Lee’s early work, then Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior is the movie for you.
