Film 41

Ong Bak (2003)

Director: Prachya Pinkaew

Has Fentablar seen this before?: No. (well, I saw some of the good action cuts before, but not the whole film)

If you enjoy the stunt-filled action film with a basic plot, Ong Bak is probably the best film of that sort you will see to date - pending at least one other film which I've only seen previews for. Tony Jaa is the best high-action star I've ever seen, hands down. This film is filled with jaw-dropping stunts, especially when you realize that none of it is faked.

This film is very fun to watch and suits its genre to a tee. In fact, there was a technique used that I normally hate, but actually appreciated in this film. With some of the stunt sequences, some of Tony Jaa's stunts themselves were repeated once, a few were even repeated twice. Normally when I see this, it is rather annoying - yet with Ong Bak, the stunts were so impressive that I wanted to see them again anyhow, so it turned out to be rather convenient.

And, honestly, the story isn't horrible. It's somewhat basic, but provides perfectly ample reason for Ting (Tony Jaa) to be in the situation he is in.

Ratings (scale of 1 to 5):

Plot Effectiveness: /5. The purpose of the plot was to show-off Tony Jaa. Mission accomplished.

Cinematography/Shot Selection: /5. No need to expound here.

Overall Acting: /5. Standard genre acting. Nothing horrible, but nothing really of note.

Score/Soundtrack: /5. Good genre music.

OVERALL RATING: /5

~Fentablar~