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Just watched Ong-Bak. Or, rather, just had Ong-Bak on in the background while I ran about and did other stuff. This means I missed a lot of plot which, as far as I could tell from the bits of plot I managed to catch, was all to the good.
Ong-Bak is a Thai kick flick, featuring the very pretty and very violent martial art known as Muy Thai, and starring the very pretty and very violent Tony Jaa. These are just about the only two reasons for watching it, because the story phones it in. No, not even phones it in, it phones a neighboring country and they have to send a kid on an elephant to go get it.
The basic idea is that Ting (Jaa) is a young man in a rural Thai village, who is a devout follower of the peaceful Buddhist religion, and as such, has been highly trained in one of the most vicious fighting systems out there. Plot happens, which results in the head of the village's small statue of Buddha (the Ong-Bak of the title) being stolen by a no-good village man who's moved to Bangkok and is working for a gangster who runs drugs and antiquities, so Ting has to go to the wilds of Bangkok and retrieve it. If he doesn't retrive it, the village will be destroyed, and this is seen at one point in the movie where the well has run dry and there's lots of dust around. This made little sense to me, because I have obviously not read enough about Buddhism. In my studies, I seem to have missed the aspect of Buddha that is a vengeful deity who will destroy an entire village because of a decapitated statue. Peace, love, non-attachment, and don't steal my head.
Once Ting gets to Bangkok, he manages to get roped into underground fighting, despite being a peaceful Buddhist who only wants the head of Buddha back. WHy he does is plot. Don't bother with it. There's a pretty impressive street chase scene when a gang chases Ting and the Doomed Comedy Sidekick (TM) that's almost worthy of Jackie Chan, wherein Tony Jaa gets to show off his leaping and sliding skills. And then more underground fighting, and eventually a showdown in a cavern where the bad guy has a gang slicing the head off of a giant statue of Buddha, for some reason.
My basic advice about the movie is to rent it for cheap, put it on, leave the Thai soundtrack on and don't worry about the subtitles, and then fast-forward through any plot. You won't miss a thing.
The three reasons to watch it are: Tony Jaa, Muy Thai, and the GIANT KILLER BUDDHA HEAD OF JUSTICE!!! at the end. Tony Jaa's abs are a special highlight. The cinematography is pretty good, too: they obviously spent the script budget on the cinematography and had to bribe the intern to write the script.
( Many screenshots depicting exactly what you're in for. )
Ong-Bak is a Thai kick flick, featuring the very pretty and very violent martial art known as Muy Thai, and starring the very pretty and very violent Tony Jaa. These are just about the only two reasons for watching it, because the story phones it in. No, not even phones it in, it phones a neighboring country and they have to send a kid on an elephant to go get it.
The basic idea is that Ting (Jaa) is a young man in a rural Thai village, who is a devout follower of the peaceful Buddhist religion, and as such, has been highly trained in one of the most vicious fighting systems out there. Plot happens, which results in the head of the village's small statue of Buddha (the Ong-Bak of the title) being stolen by a no-good village man who's moved to Bangkok and is working for a gangster who runs drugs and antiquities, so Ting has to go to the wilds of Bangkok and retrieve it. If he doesn't retrive it, the village will be destroyed, and this is seen at one point in the movie where the well has run dry and there's lots of dust around. This made little sense to me, because I have obviously not read enough about Buddhism. In my studies, I seem to have missed the aspect of Buddha that is a vengeful deity who will destroy an entire village because of a decapitated statue. Peace, love, non-attachment, and don't steal my head.
Once Ting gets to Bangkok, he manages to get roped into underground fighting, despite being a peaceful Buddhist who only wants the head of Buddha back. WHy he does is plot. Don't bother with it. There's a pretty impressive street chase scene when a gang chases Ting and the Doomed Comedy Sidekick (TM) that's almost worthy of Jackie Chan, wherein Tony Jaa gets to show off his leaping and sliding skills. And then more underground fighting, and eventually a showdown in a cavern where the bad guy has a gang slicing the head off of a giant statue of Buddha, for some reason.
My basic advice about the movie is to rent it for cheap, put it on, leave the Thai soundtrack on and don't worry about the subtitles, and then fast-forward through any plot. You won't miss a thing.
The three reasons to watch it are: Tony Jaa, Muy Thai, and the GIANT KILLER BUDDHA HEAD OF JUSTICE!!! at the end. Tony Jaa's abs are a special highlight. The cinematography is pretty good, too: they obviously spent the script budget on the cinematography and had to bribe the intern to write the script.
( Many screenshots depicting exactly what you're in for. )
