:
Tony Jaa,
Tony Jaa,
Petchthai Wongkamlao,
more...
:
Prachya Pinkaew,
Prachya Pinkaew
see all cast/crew...
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: 20th Century Fox
: Action, Foreign, Southeast Asia, Martial Arts
: 105 min.
: English, Thai
: English, Spanish
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Thai stuntman Tony Jaa makes his starring debut in this martial arts action film directed by Prachya Pinkaew. Ja plays Ting, a young man living in a village in rural Thailand. Discovered as an infant on the steps of the town's temple and raised by monks who taught him the Thai martial art of muay thai, Ting is sent to Bangkok when the head of the town's statue of the Buddha, to which they pray to bring the annual rains to their drought-stricken region, is stolen. The country boy is plunged into the big city's seething criminal underworld, and forced to use his fighting skills to dispatch a parade of thugs in an underground fight club on his way to finding the criminal mastermind who stole the Buddha head so he can return it before drought and starvation bring his hometown to ruin. ~ Tom Vick, All Movie Guide
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| Kneed and elbowed!
by kohnfused1
December 23, 2005 - 8:11 PM PST
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3 out of 3 members found this review helpful
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| Granted the story is formulaic, however this is an action/martial art flick we're talking about. First off, forget all of those old 80's/90's B movies regarding "kickboxing". Yes, I'm talking about Van Damme, Billy Blanks, and Keith Vitale (obscure reference) films. This movie blows them away action and stunt wise. Considering Tony Jaa is a former stuntman himself, it better be. He seems to have the "slo-mo" angle down pat. Whether it's delivering a skull cracking elbow to the head or a femur fracturing shin to an opponent's leg(s), you will feel the impact and intensity of every blow. Mr. Jaa has definitely brought something to the action genre (muay thai boxing), and it shouldn't just be swept underneath the "Hollywood rug". With Jackie Chan growing long on the tooth and Jet Li's announcement of retirement, it seems like the way is paved for someone like Tony Jaa to take up the mantle. Of course, this is just wishful thinking on my part, but one thing's for sure, Mr. Jaa's career will definitely blossom in the Asian market, if it hasn't already. |
| Get This Guy A Franchise, Fast!
by talltale
September 3, 2005 - 7:13 AM PDT
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6 out of 6 members found this review helpful
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I hope filmdom fast finds a place for Tony Jaa, star of ONG-BAK: THE THAI WARRIOR. The shelf life of action-actors is not all that long, and this guy is great--possessing a seemingly natural humility (or else he's a better performer than we think) plus martial arts chops that appear to best anyone in the business. The fight scenes are terrific; they only begin to pall as the movie draws to a close, and even then things pick up considerably by the end.
The story is prosaic but semi-sweet and the cast boasts a couple of other performers with better-than-average ability (the sidekick is quite good: starting out about as sleazy as can be and progressing slowly toward redemption). All in all, there really isn't much to complain about here. We say "Ya" to Jaa: Give this guy a good franchise--and quickly! |
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GreenCine Member Rating
(Average 7.19)
115 Votes
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