Ong Bak 3

[areaseven]

Ong Bak 3 ( องค์บาก3 )

Sahamongkol Film Co. Ltd., 2010

Magnet Films/Magnolia Home Entertainment, 2011

Directed by Panna Rittikrai (Born to Fight) and Tony Jaa

Running Time: 100 minutes

Rated R for graphic martial arts violence.

Cast

Tony Jaa (Ting in Ong Bak, Kham in Tom Yum Goong) as Tien Sihadecho

Dan Chupong (Deaw in Born to Fight) as the Crow Ghost

Sarunyoo Wongkrachang as Lord Rajasena

Primrata Dejudom as Pim

Petchtai Wongkamlao (Humlae in Ong Bak) as Mhen

Nirut Sirichanya as Master Bua

Synopsis

After being captured by the evil Lord Rajasena, Tien is brutally tortured, bloodied and broken. However, Rajasena senses that a curse put upon him years ago will seal his fate very soon. Tien is spared from execution by order from a higher court, but his body is severely battered and only his soul can bring him back to the living.

Lowdown

Ong Bak 2 was a major letdown with its numerous plot loopholes and an anti-climactic cliffhanger. So does Ong Bak 3 solve all of the last movie's inconsistencies?

Not really.

The first hour may put you to sleep, as it deals mostly on Buddhism and karma, with little emphasis on martial arts. Then, after the first hour, Tony Jaa goes back to what he does best: breaking bones and throwing bodies everywhere. But still, all of the high-flying Muay Thai action doesn't save this film from complete obscurity. This movie could've done completely without all this supernatural crap happening between Jaa and lead villain Dan Chupong. Even worse is that Wire-Fu - a major no-no in Jaa's earlier films - is actually employed in the final battle.

Despite being one of the most expensive productions in Thailand, Ong Bak 3 is a major letdown. And so, the "Third Movie Curse" continues.

Rating: D+

Links

Official Ong Bak 3 Homepage

Reference

The Internet Movie Database

Edited October 20, 2011 by areaseven

[BeyondTheGrave]

Why did they make a three?! One was ok. I didn't see two b/c the protector was the same as ong bak 1 but Jaa running around asking where's my elephant instead of where's the head of ong bak.

[areaseven]

Why did they make a three?! One was ok. I didn't see two b/c the protector was the same as ong bak 1 but Jaa running around asking where's my elephant instead of where's the head of ong bak.

I think what Tony Jaa and the crew were trying to do was produce a historical epic to go head-on with Chinese martial arts films such as Three Kingdoms and Red Cliff. The concept was good on paper, but simply executed poorly. It would've probably worked as a stand-alone film series, but to have OB2 and OB3 as prequels to the first Ong Bak just doesn't make sense. Aside from Tony Jaa, the only relation between the three films is the statue of Ong Bak, which isn't even covered much in the prequel films.

[Graham]

Still haven't seen any of these yet and wasn't even aware they had made a '3'.

Graham

[Retracting Head Ter Ter]

Still haven't seen any of these yet and wasn't even aware they had made a '3'.

Graham

Nuh? You have not watched Ong Bak (1)? Its worth a watch. Forget everything else, all crap.

Just looking at the pic of the movie poster (1st post) makes me decide that its crap.

[wolfx]

Aside from Tony Jaa, the only relation between the three films is the statue of Ong Bak, which isn't even covered much in the prequel films.

Wasn't Ting supposed to be the reincarnation of Tien later on or something? Heck i thought Tien died at the end of Ong Bak 2.

Thai films should stick to the horror genre, and even that's kinda hit and miss.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I think what Tony Jaa and the crew were trying to do was produce a historical epic to go head-on with Chinese martial arts films such as Three Kingdoms and Red Cliff. The concept was good on paper, but simply executed poorly. It would've probably worked as a stand-alone film series, but to have OB2 and OB3 as prequels to the first Ong Bak just doesn't make sense. Aside from Tony Jaa, the only relation between the three films is the statue of Ong Bak, which isn't even covered much in the prequel films.

to me the fights and cinematography killed the movies. The use of slow mo. showing the same punch over from 8 different angles.

[eugimon]

to me the fights and cinematography killed the movies. The use of slow mo. showing the same punch over from 8 different angles.

exactly, the ong bak flicks play like a super youtube movie. Juvenile and asinine story that barely stitch together a series of awesome but increasingly stale and repetitive action sequences that serve more as a vanity piece to show off Tony Jaa than anything else.

The second one didn't even have the charm of the freshness of Jaa's athleticism, it just seemed like recycled B footage from the first movie with some horrible horrible CG and a little wire work thrown in for flavor.

gotta say, i had little interest for number 3 and after reading this review I stand by comments in the Expendables thread where I wrote that if the end of ong bak 2 was where Jaa was headed, I wasn't interested. And I'm not.

[baronv]

Didn't know 3 was out already, I thought Jaa went into self-imposed exile after OB2. OB2 was very flat to me, even the fights were so-so compared to his first two films.

Hopefully the next movie he makes goes back to modern times and just having him fight various style martial artists with no wire-fu, no repeated angles, and NO complicated stories...just Tony Jaa moving from fight to fight.

[areaseven]

You know what the worst part about this film is? It's the ending.

Tien's village is raided and most of the survivors (including his girlfriend) are taken to the Crow Ghost's palace as slaves, so he goes there to save his girlfriend and the villagers. Once he arrives, the Crow Ghost slashes his girlfriend in the throat, causing Tien to go on a berserker rage and kill every guard on sight. This goes on until the Crow Ghost spears him through the heart.

And then all of a sudden, the scene rewinds back to where Tien arrives at the palace. His girlfriend doesn't get killed, but he proceeds to dismember the guards before fighting the Crow Ghost head-on.

WTF was that all about?!?

[1/1 LowViz Lurker]

Yeah I didn't get that bit. There is probably a missing scene where an ancient version of the Delorean was invented to allow for time travel.