[edit] # 13:41

Give me the Head!

Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior is the latest action film out of Thailand. Starring Tony Jaa as Ting who journeys from the provinces into Bangkok to retrieve the stolen buddha head of Ong-Bak. Since the robbery, the village Prong Nardu is drought ridden and suffering greatly, all the villagers believe the drought will end once the head is recovered.

A thug named Don has foolishly stolen the head and takes it to his boss in Bangkok. The courageous Ting volunteers to track Don down and bring the head back to the village. When he arrives in Bangkok, he meets up with a former villager, Hum Lae, who now goes by "George" and is a scam artist and gambler. Through his travails of hanging out with George and pursuing Don, Ting gets into a lot of fights involving his expert skills at Muay Thai/ kick boxing.

The plot's premise and how he constantly ends up in chase scenes and fights is a bit outlandish -in a Benny Hill sort-of-way - but the story has two great points that they grind home:

1. The problem of modern day stealing and exportation of cultural treasures
   
2. The stereotype of Asian males as weak*
   

*The second one having an excellent line voiced by an Aussie actor:

"You Thai men are weak, that's why your women go to my country to become prostitutes!"

[Umm, okay, so the simple law of supply & demand have nothing to do with it and the women actually like having sex for money. Whatever dude.]

The movie has the same joy that one got of watching early Jackie Chan movies. The thin storyline is a vehicle for Jaa to walk on people, kick like a mofo and put an elbow pretty much through anyone's skull. His acrobatics are amazing and perhaps I'm blind, but I didn't see any wire. Billed as the next Jackie Chan, Jaa seems more than capable of taking on the responsibility. A fun action-packed film.

Comments: Post a Comment