The kid shows spunk, though, and he's rescued by Chernang (Sorapong Chatree), the curly-cue mustachioed leader of a band of outlaws, who takes Tien into his den of thieves and raises him like a son. Tien is captured by slave traders who know nothing of his royal identity, and they toss him in a crocodile pit for sport. if you're feeling Gregorian-and the backdrop is a violent political upheaval that leaves young prince Tien (played in adulthood by Jaa) an orphan after rebellious Lord Rajasena (Sarunyu Wongkrajang) murders the kid's kingly parents. The year is 1974 according to the Buddhist calendar-okay, okay, that's 1421 A.D. Yet, once again, the story gets short shrifted to give maximum time to the violent devastation that Jaa liberally doles out. You might call it the Thai equivalent of a Chinese wuxia epic, as it includes a clamoring amount of swordplay in addition to Jaa's usual foot and fist prowess. It certainly feels more like a sequel than the real Ong Bak 2, which is a prequel set in medieval Thailand. His follow-up, Tom-Yum-Goong-often incorrectly called Ong Bak 2-is essentially a rehash of his first film with a marginally different plot and bigger stunts. Since then, I've been waiting for a Jaa vehicle that manages a better balance between story and skull-busting action. Because, in retrospect, the film itself is a slipshod affair that gets by on a threadbare plot and single-note performances. Gritty, raw, fresh, a return to form for martial arts movies, the praise lavished on Ong Bak was really praise for Tony Jaa and his physics-defying feats of agility. In a time when wire-fu acrobatics had become the norm-providing action sequences that were visually impressive but incredibly artificial-Jaa was the real deal, leaping over vats of boiling oil, doing double front flips, sliding under moving vehicles, and landing some bone-crushingly brutal aerial blows, all without the aid of wires or CGI. Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior introduced the world to martial arts mastermind Tony Jaa, and what an unexpected introduction it was.
Reviewed by Casey Broadwater, February 5, 2010 Bigger budget, epic setting, still no plot.
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