areaseven Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Ong Bak 2 ( องค์บาก2 ) Sahamongkolfilm Co. Ltd., 2008 Magnolia Pictures, 2009 Directed by Panna Rittikrai (Born to Fight) and Tony Jaa Running Time: 110 minutes Rated R for graphic martial arts violence. Cast Tony Jaa (Ting in Ong Bak, Kham in Tom Yum Goong) as Tien Sihadecho Sorapong Chatree as Chernung Sarunyoo Wongkrachang as Lord Rajasena Nirut Sirichanya as Master Bua Synopsis In the Buddhist Calendar Year 1974 (1421 A.D.), ancient Thailand is in the middle of a war between the Ayutthaya Kingdom and the Sukhothai Kingdom. Tien, the son of a military leader, escapes from a massacre at the hands of the treacherous Lord Rajasena. While being held captive by a group of slave traders, he is saved by Chernung and the "Pha Beek Krut" - a powerful guerilla group. For the next decade as a member of Pha Beek Krut, Tien undergoes training in various forms of martial arts from Muay Thai to Kung-Fu to Kenjutsu. Using his acquired skills, Tien sets his sights on avenging the death of his parents. Lowdown The most anticipated martial arts sequel has been made, but is it worth the full admission price? Not really. Normally, you'd watch a Tony Jaa film to see how Muay Thai stacks up against other forms of martial arts. Unfortunately, Muay Thai is only used in roughly 10% of the film. Instead, Tony Jaa shows the viewers how well he can mix other forms of martial arts to fully combat his opponents. That's nice and all, but it pretty much defeats the purpose of a Tony Jaa film. We want more elbow and knee strikes and less drunken Kung-Fu. Another problem with this film is the storyline. Characters keep on appearing and disappearing, and you can't keep track on who these other people are. And for a martial arts film, the story is very dragging in length. With an ancient setting in mind, the cinematographers try too hard to make the film feel like Apocalypto mixed with Gladiator and 300, but it just doesn't work. And the Ong Bak statue has nothing to do with this film except for an appearance in the end. Speaking of endings, Ong Bak 2 has the single most anti-climactic of any martial arts film. The movie ends in a cliffhanger where the narrator vaguely explains that Tien finds a way to cheat death. Sad to say this, but Ong Bak 2 is the weakest of all Tony Jaa films. Hopefully, Ong Bak 3 resolves all the plot holes. Rating: C- Links Official Ong-Bak 2 Homepage Reference The Internet Movie Database Quote
BlueMax Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Actually I liked the action portion, especially when they are all done without wire-fu (well, at least not that I can really see anyway) But yes..... the story.... what was it about again? lol~! Quote
areaseven Posted June 23, 2009 Author Posted June 23, 2009 Actually I liked the action portion, especially when they are all done without wire-fu (well, at least not that I can really see anyway) But yes..... the story.... what was it about again? lol~! Actually, for once, Tony Jaa broke the "no strings attached" rule by having his female opponent fly around during the fight on the elephant. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 (edited) I haven't seen this one, but I loved the first Ong Bak. The timeless tale of a young boy, who beats the tar out of people for stealing his elephant... I mean, who doesn't relate to that? Edited June 23, 2009 by mikeszekely Quote
areaseven Posted June 23, 2009 Author Posted June 23, 2009 I haven't seen this one, but I loved the first Ong Bak. The timeless tale of a young boy, who beats the tar out of people for stealing his elephant... I mean, who doesn't relate to that? Wrong movie. That was The Protector (Tom Yum Goong). Ong Bak is where Tony Jaa goes out to recover a stolen Buddha head. Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Wrong movie. That was The Protector (Tom Yum Goong). Ong Bak is where Tony Jaa goes out to recover a stolen Buddha head. Oh, right. And the tree. Okay, Ong Bak was okay, but they really need to get cracking on The Protector 2. Quote
areaseven Posted June 23, 2009 Author Posted June 23, 2009 Oh, right. And the tree. Okay, Ong Bak was okay, but they really need to get cracking on The Protector 2. I don't think they're doing a sequel to The Protector anytime soon, as they're focused on Ong Bak 3. I'd like to see how Tony Jaa will fight with broken limbs . Quote
areaseven Posted June 23, 2009 Author Posted June 23, 2009 Now I know why the ending sucks. The film went over-budget. From Wikipedia: In July 2008, rumor surfaced that Tony Jaa has disappeared from the production set. Prachya Pinkaew commented to the press that Tony Jaa has disappeared from the set for almost two months, leaving the film unfinished, and that the delay has caused more than 250 million baht damage due to the breach of contract with the Weinstein Company who also has canceled the contract. Later in an interview with the press, Tony Jaa stated that the production was on hiatus because Sahamongkol Film could not release the obligated funding for the film. Source within Ayara Film, the subsidiary of Sahamongkol Film that handles Ong Bak 2 production stated that no more funding came from Sahamongkol after it took over budget and management role from Tony Jaa since May 2008 to July 2008. Quote
Vepariga Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 loved this movie, no where as good 'story-wise' as the first, ong bak 2's story is pretty forgettable,but the fight scenes are what this movie is really about, excellent martial arts fights and technique,especially the last 20 mins when he goes to the village. insane. Quote
BlueMax Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Actually, for once, Tony Jaa broke the "no strings attached" rule by having his female opponent fly around during the fight on the elephant. You are referring to "The Crow" fighter? Was that a female? Hm.... gotta go watch that part again... Quote
Graham Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Haven't seen it yet, but if there is wire-work in it, then I refuse to watch it. IMO, martial arts movies should be about showing real martial arts skill, not about silly unrealistic wire-fu. Graham Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Haven't seen it yet, but if there is wire-work in it, then I refuse to watch it. IMO, martial arts movies should be about showing real martial arts skill, not about silly unrealistic wire-fu. Graham I agree. Besides, no elephants = not a good Tony Jaa movie. Well, I guess I can't really say that, since I did like the first Ong Bak okay... but still, screw Ong Bak 3 (unless another huge white poacher throws a baby elephant in it), I want another Protector. Quote
BlueMax Posted June 23, 2009 Posted June 23, 2009 Haven't seen it yet, but if there is wire-work in it, then I refuse to watch it. IMO, martial arts movies should be about showing real martial arts skill, not about silly unrealistic wire-fu. Graham I think it was pretty minimal, if any. Quote
areaseven Posted June 24, 2009 Author Posted June 24, 2009 I agree. Besides, no elephants = not a good Tony Jaa movie. Oh, there are a lot of elephants in Ong Bak 2. Tony Jaa uses his martial arts skills to tame an entire herd of elephants by slapping the lead elephant on the head . Quote
mikeszekely Posted June 24, 2009 Posted June 24, 2009 Oh, there are a lot of elephants in Ong Bak 2. Tony Jaa uses his martial arts skills to tame an entire herd of elephants by slapping the lead elephant on the head . It's going on my Netflix then. Quote
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