The Dark Crystal The Dark Crystal
Dec
22
2008

ONG BAK 2 Review

Posted by Todd Brown at 5:45pm.

Posted in Film & DVD Reviews , Martial Arts, Action, Asia.

[While Tony Jaa’s Ong Bak 2 finally made it through its tortuous production process and arrived in Thai theaters to a hugely positive response - a response that has already led to a third Ong Bak film being confirmed - there are some dissenting voices out there.  One of the unconvinced is regular Twitch reader James Marsh, who contributes the review below.]

Thailand, 1431. Lord Rajsena is running amok in northern Thailand in a bid to take over the whole kingdom. His fearsome army rampages through the jungles killing everyone in its path, including Lord Sidhadeco, a well-respected General, and his wife. Traumatised by seeing his parents slaughtered, young Tien flees, but is captured and forced to wrestle a crocodile by vicious slave traders. The wise and sympathetic Chernang, seeing a flicker of promise under the matted hair of the young lad, helps him escape and takes Tien under his wing. Years pass and Tien (Tony Jaa) is trained in all manner of weird and wonderful martial art techniques, as well as how to run across the backs of stampeding elephants, make them sit and roll over and other cool stuff. He is even taught how to kill, which according to Chernang, is the final step to becoming a great leader. Once Tien has proved his physical and mental prowess, Chernang hands over leadership of the clan, and Tien embarks on his mission to track down Lord Rajsena and beat the crap out of him, and lots of other people too.

The production of Ong Bak 2 has been fraught with drama and controversy. After Tony Jaa fell out with Prachya Pinkaew, architect of Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong, the films that brought the star to the attention of the martial arts world, he took on the directorial reins of this supposed prequel himself. There were stories of financiers pulling out, the film going well over budget and the whole production grinding to a halt for two months after Jaa went AWOL – apparently retreating to meditate after the stress got too much for him. But the finished product has finally made it to cinema screens, breaking box office records on its release in Thailand. However, the truth be told, Ong Bak 2 is a complete train wreck of a film. Jaa’s character stalks through the mud and rain like a deranged psychotic Mowgli, tearing a path through an endless stream of gurning, hysterical adversaries with little sense of motivation beyond blind rage.

Told through a series of flashbacks, the first hour of the film is baffling and rather nonsensical, before finally settling down to become little more than a string of bone-crunching showdowns. Now, martial arts films, more than most other genres, can get by on the flimsiest of storylines and be all the better for it, but until the final reel, Ong Bak 2 threatens to alienate and bewilder its audience, many of whom want to see little more than a few decent punch-ups. 

Beyond the casting of its lead character, the film has nothing whatsoever to do with the original Ong-Bak, and is in fact set 600 years previous to the events of that film. In truth it does feature a plethora of fighting styles and numerous opportunities for Jaa to show them off, but the film lacks an assured directorial hand to confidently stage the arrogant, crowd-stopping set-pieces that made Jaa’s previous efforts so spectacular. Acclaimed action-director Panna Rittikrai, who choreographed those earlier outings, is credited as co-director alongside Jaa, but his artistry is lost amid the mud and blood, the choppy camera work and saturated visuals, making Ong Bak 2 feel like Rambo without guns.

It is not giving anything away to state that the film is open-ended, hinting at a possible sequel as much as it betrays a panicked editing process without the full co-operation of its star/director. Sadly, however, the film fails to inspire any sense of excitement in its audience, nor curiosity to know what will happen next. In fact, the only real question left in the balance is whether Tony Jaa will ever be allowed to direct another film again – and for the greater good of all involved, especially Jaa himself, one can only hope the answer is a resounding no.

Review by James Marsh

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Reader Comments

  1. BtoFu 12/22/2008 @ 6:09pm

    Yet another cheapo Thai disc pick-up that I can FF my way through until we get to the action then. Not surprised at all really even if I silently hoped for something more. So long as the skillz are on show I suppose…

  2. Papigiulio 12/22/2008 @ 7:42pm

    Amen to that BtoFu, can’t really say more than that.

  3. Mike 12/22/2008 @ 10:24pm

    Sounds like about what I was expecting.

  4. PC 12/23/2008 @ 3:23am

    I found the tone of Tom Yum Goong to be rather unsettling (re: excessive bone-breaking violence and injuries) vs the more traditional Ong Bak… unfortunately Ong Bak 2 seems to trade skill for violence in the video clips I’ve seen so it’s not looking up for me so far.

  5. loompanix 12/23/2008 @ 7:09am

    If it weren’t for Prachya’s CHOCOLATE I’d say that Thai action has finally hit the skids.

  6. Jahsoldier 12/23/2008 @ 7:11am

    Ever since the first trailer/teaser, I have been pretty worried about this film. The main reason so many enjoy Tony Jaa’s films are his fight coordination so even if you do your best to ignore the story line and the problems surrounding the film itself, the footage of Jaa’s skills on screen seem odd to me. As I have said before, there is no reason for Jaa to be doing every single martial art under the sun in one film and it makes absolutely no sense in the context.

    This film will probably appeal to the average layman who cannot tell the difference in fighting styles and don’t give a crap about the story, but since this is supposed to be a serious film, I take issue with that. I didn’t have high hopes before now and this review (although very informative) has not helped my waning enthusiasm :(

    I can only hope Jaa feels the same and goes back to his “roots” and tries to do a more spiritual muay thai film and less commercial (even though he does deserve commercial success). Thanks James for the heads up.

  7. Todd Brown 12/23/2008 @ 7:54am

    For the record, Tony’s roots are kung fu, not muay thai.  He picked up muay thai late in life on the recommendation of Panna Rittikrai, who thought it would help him play to a local crowd.  As far as Tony’s concerned, the kung fu in this IS him returning to his roots.

  8. Hedon 12/23/2008 @ 9:08am

    I saw the movie 2 weeks ago, and enjoyed the hell out of it. I didn’t like Tom Yum Goong but I did like the original ong bak. The story is cheasy in an 80ies way, think Conan style nonsense, but I had fun with it. Is it an intelligent movie ? no, but is that what you expect?
    the action scenes are quite brutal, but also inventive and featuring many different styles executed beautifully. If it holds up on the little screen I don’t know, But digitally projected with deafening sound, it’s one hell of a ride.
    shitty ending though.

  9. tinmann 12/23/2008 @ 10:21am

    I never go into a martial arts movie expecting anything other than bone crushing action and over the top martial arts choreographing and Tony always has delivered the goods in the past. I guess you could call me shallow but I know what I like and I don’t need a complicated story line or a lot of twist in the plot. All I need in a Martial arts movie is a good lengthy fight scene every 5-10 minutes and moves that are barely humanly possible and I’m riveted. Me and Kung fu movies go way back to the days when the Shaw Brother’s ruled the MA cinema and I could walk downtown and there would be 3 theaters each showing double features of different Kung fu movies. I’m really looking forward to seeing this movie along with the sequel to Stormriders.

  10. krookbydabook 12/23/2008 @ 2:23pm

    Heyy i think u all got it wrong!!!!!!all of tony jaa movies have been set up for him to show his skillz. Its not about the stupid story or the acting its all
    about the action. if u go into this movie expecting oscar material and a gripping story then ur fuckin stupid jus like the person who reviewed this movie!!!!i left the movie an i was satisfied an i cant wait for ong bak 3!!!!!!

  11. James Marsh 12/23/2008 @ 6:55pm

    Wow - krookbydabook - appreciate the hugely constructive comments. I wasn’t expecting award-winning material here, and in fact I would have been more than happy to watch Tony Jaa simply displaying his fighting skills - but that is not what you get. The fights aren’t filmed very well, plain and simple. Also, I’m not complaining that the plot was dumb, or light, or even a little unbelievable - simply that the film appears to have been assembled almost completely by random. The story makes no sense and when you are sat in the cinema watching this you don’t have the luxury of fast forwarding to the next fight. You have to endure the full duration - and that was hard work.  Tom Yum Goong, for example, had a dumb plot, but at least it was a story that made basic sense - same with Chocolate and Ong-Bak. Ong Bak 2 does not, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the majority of this film completely restructured before it is presented to a western audience.

  12. cpa314 12/23/2008 @ 7:28pm

    I wasnt expecting Tony Jaa to be an amazing director but the fight scenes from the trailers looked pretty good and the fact that Jaa is going back to his kung fu “roots” was also nice to hear. If the fight scenes really arent up to par, then thats unfortunate. I will have to watch it myself before I totally write it off but maybe next time Jaa should stick to doing what the director says instead of trying to direct his own film. Did he choreograph the action as well? Anyway, my vote for best action star/choregrapher is hands down Donnie Yen. Jaa is great but Yen is just on a different level compared to the rest of the action stars now. Fight scenes in Sha Po Lang, Flashpoint, and Ip Man are the best you will find anywhere.

  13. ChevalierAguila 12/23/2008 @ 8:39pm

    I’m still watching this, and most of you too.

  14. tinmann 12/23/2008 @ 9:38pm

    I’d have to agree that Donnie is on an entirely different level. He is one of my top Asian film stars and his later films shows that he can really bring the pain. I’m really looking forward to seeing his latest biopic “Ip Man”. I also have nothing but mad respect for Yuen Wo Ping and Lau Kar Leung and their choreographing skills. I’ll also watch anything with Wu Jing in it.

  15. James Marsh 12/23/2008 @ 9:48pm

    Ip Man is apparently the best work the Yen/Yip collaboration has yet produced - I’ll see it over the holiday long weekend. Legendary Assassin with Wu Jing is also lots of fun!

  16. cpa314 12/24/2008 @ 2:19am

    yeah, thats what I’ve been hearing too Marshy. its definitely gonna be a must-watch. Not as high on Legendary Assassin though. Like Ong Bak 2, its directed by the action star. I think its a bit too much work for them to do that. They should leave the directing to the directors for now. Concentrate on the acting. Wu Jing is pretty nice but he always get stuck in mostly b-movies for some reason. all his fatal movies just scream b-movie. The only real quality film he has been in recently is Sha Po Lang. Hopefully, he will get some better roles soon. Marsh, do you know if Tony choreographed the action for Ong Bak 2? You really didnt like it? It looked pretty good from the trailer. Would love to hear your review of Ip Man after you see it. =)

  17. James Marsh 12/24/2008 @ 2:34am

    The action in OB2 is choreographed by Panna Rittikrai, same as Ong Bak, TYG and Chocolate. He was also credited as co-director along with OB2. Yeah, Wu Jing said he directed Legendary Assassin as the first step to getting better roles. Coz he’s Mainland Chinese and his cantonese isn’t very good he keeps getting cast as the bad guy, whereas in China he was the romantic lead in some big TV dramas pre-SPL. I liked Leg Assassin for what it was - simple, by-the-numbers action B-movie, with a stripped down plot there to facilitate the fight sequences.  I don’t want to directly compare it to OB2, but it’s hard not to say OB2 should have been more like LA. The whole period setting, flashback structure, mystical dreamlike ambience of the thing was just too ambitious for someone like Tony Jaa to carry off successfully as a first directorial outing. It just doesn’t all fit together in a very comprehensible way and is confusing. The fighting is all there on screen, but it’s harder to watch than it was in his earlier films because of some messy editing. These films should be easy to watch and be just a bit of fun. Sitting through all of OB2 was a real effort. That’s the major complaint I have with it. It simply wasn’t fun. Will let you know about Ip Man as soon as.

  18. James Marsh 12/24/2008 @ 2:35am

    Correction: Panna Rittikrai was not involved with Chocolate. My mistake.

  19. krookbydabook 12/24/2008 @ 2:41am

    cpa314   Panna Rittikrai an Tony Jaa choreographed the action together.
    Yea marshy i want you to review Ip Man

  20. aztek 12/25/2008 @ 3:33am

    marshy, is it really true that tony jaa’s box office record-breaking film is
    his worst action film ever!? was it relly that hard to follow, the character’s in the film doesn’t explain at all what is happening? and the action is really that bad? if it is true then that sucks. were would u rate it on a scale 1-10, and be honest i mean look at all the positives as well as the negatives and pick a number.

  21. aztek 12/25/2008 @ 7:16am

    ok this is aztek’s cousin, i don’t feel like registering my own account so here’s my take on the film and heres what i know from the filmmakers of ob2…
    I’ve actually seen the film and was disappointed cause of not only did the film not relate to the first ong bak in any degree but also of the way the storyline and the action was set up. the action is good but different. Different on the number of fights, this film had the least amount of action out of the 3 tj films the last 20 minutes is were most the action was at, the mixture of martial arts was cool but it could have been shot a little more better but it doesnt entirely take away from all the action , and the ending got me buggin like huh? thats it? the film was 90 minutes long, kinda short. I have to admit james marsh, u made alot of good points but to be more fair this film is actually the set up for ong bak 3 so if u don’t get the entire storyline you’ll supposely get it from ob3, tony and his company are doing the kill bill thing where the movie is split into two and tony’s boss actually cleared up some of the disconnect with this film, the film was only 80% done when tony returned and they had to make their schedule release date so the final product was pushed out at the last minute. Therefore they cut out some of the footage from ob2 and will emerge it with all of OB3. In ong bak 3 tony said their will be triple the action and the storyline will be more clear and better and the film is expected to be released by the end of 2009 so because of that, even though we had to wait three years for another action epic from him and it felt like a letdown, i’ll give him the benefit of the doubt, especially since tony won’t be directing ob3 and go back to being directed. ALL IM SAYING JAMES IS KEEP IN MIND THAT OB2 IS THE BEGINNING OF OB3, I KNOW ITS ODD AND THREE YEARs OVERDUE BUT WE’LL SEE IF OB3 MAKES UP FOR OB2 IF ANYONE FELT DISAPPOINTED.

  22. Jahsoldier 12/25/2008 @ 2:05pm

    @ Todd; thanks for setting me straight. I had no idea he was originally a practitioner of KF. I truly hope that he positively represents the KF scene.

    And like Che said, I will still rush out to see this at the first opportunity to see the results for myself.

  23. Itto Ogami loses Daigoro 12/27/2008 @ 6:08pm

    I expected Shakespeare.

  24. James Marsh 12/29/2008 @ 7:38pm

    Saw Ip Man last night and good news, it really is hugely entertaining. It is successful in large part for the same reasons that OB2 didn’t work for me - the fights are well choreographed, well filmed and are relevant to the action. Ip Man has a lot of fighting in it, particularly in the first half, which I found surprising, but every throwdown has a motive and is important to the plot, unlike OB2 where Tony Jaa seems to fight simply whoever is closest to him or put in front of him. Ip Man has a great balance between telling a historical story with good characterisation and drama (although I’m pretty sure the accuracy of the story is questionable) as well as moments of well judged humour and most importantly, lots of damn good fighting. Donnie Yen is certainly improving as a performer too, I’m still not totally convinced that he can carry anything other than an action movie, but he has certainly worked hard to be where he is today and is definitely improving. Wilson Yip too is showing growing maturity as a director - the film shows great confidence and finesse, as SPL did, but without the need to show off with flashy visuals. Ip Man has a grace to it that can only be achieved with experience.

    I’m not going to hail it as the greatest martial arts movie ever, in the same way that - in response to an earlier post - OB2 is NOT the worst film ever, but rather just a badly executed one. Ip Man is, however, better than Red Cliff, Painted Skin, Legendary Assassin and Run Papa Run, and much better than Dragon Tiger Gate and Flash Point. I’ll stop short of saying it is better than SPL, but it is quite simply the best Hong Kong film of the year.

  25. cpa314 01/12/2009 @ 1:22am

    Flashpoint IMO wasnt that bad. As a movie, it wasnt good. The story was blah but the fight scenes redeem it. Donnie + Collin Chou was Awesome

  26. nikthewerelion 01/25/2009 @ 3:27pm

    i dont doubt that jaa directing this film probly lowers it a bit on how good it is but i just watch these movies for the fight scenes, as far as i am concerned the only movies that have come close to having decent plots and good fights are some stuff out of HK or japan and thailand is just starting ot with its industry so give it some time maybe 20 years or so. i hope they do make a third that would be sweet and i hope dragon dynasty picks this up when its released in the states.

  27. Todd Brown 01/25/2009 @ 3:46pm

    Thailand actually has one of the oldest film industries in the world.  They’ve been producing films continuously since the 1930s, I believe, maybe earlier than that.

  28. nikthewerelion 01/25/2009 @ 4:13pm

    wow didnt know that, pretty interesting but if u look at mosto f what jaa did before ong bak it really looks like shit and i think thats cuz the thai industry probly doesnt have a lot of money but hopefully things will change sometime soon since he has become more popular.

  29. Todd Brown 01/25/2009 @ 6:33pm

    Jaa’s early stuff isn’t really indicative of the Thai industry as a whole ... the company he did those for (and that Panna was involved with at the time) specialized in nothing but ultra low budget action films that didn’t play anywhere except for the outer provinces of Thailand, really. People in the urban centers wouldn’t have really had the chance to see them on the big screen at all.  There’s a lot of much more polished stuff out there from the same period.

  30. fudduf 03/29/2009 @ 6:23pm

    just saw this, what a dissapointment!  i really only liked the action scene in the middle.  like the review said, the film was a total mess.  CGI blood and CGI fire, and somebody really screwed the colors in post-production.  i hope they don’t let tony near a camera again.

  31. Ricksomchai 03/29/2009 @ 8:34pm

    what film are you guys watching coz it must not be ong bak 2 the story was fine
    the first time i seen it i did not even have subs and i could understand it??
    the fights where great you all are just pissed coz he did not flip around like his other films it was great work wtf!!!??? the acting was good the fights where hard core as they could be and the movie was just bad ass!!!! if you have not seen this trust me its worth it one of the best MA films i ever seen
    and i have been watching them from the time i was a kid ***** 5 stars for fighting story only gets *** 3 coz you had to read it but other then that it was about what you would get from any other MA film and there was no CGI blood or fire??? not a drop…

  32. gcyeti 03/30/2009 @ 11:39am

    It’s too bad that the no CGI deal has been dropped.  But really I think the movie needs to be taken as what it is, one first attempt at production for Tony Jaa.  From what I’ve heard the idea was to go for something grittier than the earlier movies he’s made and put his own stamp on movies.  Being a first attempt at that, if things aren’t perfect well shock horror people.  I don’t mean to cause huge outrage by those that didn’t like it, we all have our personal tastes, but really from what I’ve seen I’m excited to see the rest and even without perfect post production I’m interested to see the direction that Jaa has taken and where it’s likely to lead him.

    To be fair look at any great directors early movies and you should see they all had to start somewhere, if you need example look at Peter Jacksons ‘Bad Taste’ funny as hell but terribly made and then look at him now with the movies he’s gotten to work on since.  I know it doesn’t change whether a movie is good or not but it does give some context to what you’re watching.

  33. justrobby 03/31/2009 @ 3:10am

    The film wasnt that bad. I really dont understand all these negative reviews. I just recently finished watching it, and yes it did have some flaws in it, but i wasnt expecting a great storyline, i was in it for the action.

    Awesome fight scenes is what keeps this film together, this must have been hell to make, and even though it was his first time directing, the film still was came out better then most first timers.

    Looks like there will be another film to follow, and it will only be better then this.

  34. gcyeti 03/31/2009 @ 6:31am

    I just finished watching the full movie last night and really I was impressed.  Maybe because I like movies with a darker element, but either way this movie did bring that grittier aspect into a martial arts movie, something that is quite different from the standard and I enjoyed that.  Storyline, well it wasn’t expected to be great, but it did show a good contrast of the conflict in the character.  Nothing to really build suspense and anticipation, it was pretty obvious where things were going, but again nobody is expecting otherwise.

    The fight scenes were good enough to rival many other martial artists and were well choreographed, really I don’t get the negative feedback.  Yes the movie was made a little differently from the standard but surely stepping out of the box and trying some new things isn’t that bad a crime.

    Following the flashbacks, there could have been a little better editing done at this stage, to help transition the audience into the change in time, I did find myself going ‘oh we’re having another flashback now’ every once in a while but once I’d gotten used to the way it seemed to jump into them I didn’t have that much difficulty with it and I don’t get that it was hard to follow.

    All in all I’m quite impressed for a first time director to put out something as good as this and I’m excited to see the next movie.  Sorry for those that didn’t get out of this what I did, it’s too bad I guess really it’s about the personal tastes of what each of want to see in a movie.  For me I like a little gloom and I like to see a new direction taken, even if it’s not perfect it’s good to see someone willing to try something other than get the standard movie template and fill in the blanks.

  35. matwasea1time 04/21/2009 @ 3:39am

    Personally i think this film is the best yet we have seen from tony jaa. Everything about the film is amazing. How can anyone say they dont understand the story??? There are two familys striving for power and the throne, one family gets murdered which happens to be teean’s. Teean (tony jaa) is left alone in the forest. Hes then found by a group of savage criminals who kidnap people and force them into slavery. Teean’s then rescued by a group of pirates and the leader takes a liking to him. The leader of the pirates decides to train teean in a variety of martial arts at his home school. When he is fully trained teean wants to avenge the death of his parents by killing the people who murdered them. One of the killers happens to be the leader of the Kru Krut pirates ( neither Teean or the leader knew about each other as they had never seen each other before )! There you have it, the entire plot!!!! * This films great, action is great, acting is great, the filming of the film is great!!!* I suggest you watch it if you have’nt already….....

  36. alusive 06/29/2009 @ 9:18am

    I really enjoyed the film, the cinematography was amazing and grimly beautiful. They captured the brutality of the time and I really enjoyed the Tai culture in the film. Even though the plot was confusing and far from spectacular, it set the mood and even though there was less fighting in it, imo opinion the final fight in the movie was the best yet and much more believable. How he used the elephant to help him fight was superb and the back flip kick of the tusks was awesome. I also thought the fights were more believable and more technical than his previous films. Overall I don’t think it’s as good as the original, but it’s far from terrible and a lot better than Warrior King.

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