Ong Bak 3--Verdict on Tony Jaa's Latest Offering...

It's been a little over 5 months since my first review on this blog. Just about 20 Saturday mornings have gone by with no updates! What a shame! Well getting working 2 jobs and getting married can do that to a man! My apologies for the few that have read and supported me, I hope to start doing this blog on a regular basis and hopefully my readers will grow!

I spent this morning watching Tony Jaa's 3rd and final installment of the Ong Bak series. When I first copped the original Ong Bak I was blown away by Tony Jaa's performance. He had the build and swagger of Bruce Lee, the "do your own stunts" craziness of Jackie Chan, and the likability of Jet Li. I was convinced that this was the next martial arts legend. Jaa would follow Ong Bak with Tom-Yum-Goong, also known as The Protector or The Warrior King, which was another flick that was chock full of whoop ass!!

Then came Ong Bak 2. I plan to re-watch part 2 and give a detailed review, but what I can say is that it confused me that it had absolutely nothing to do with the original. Jaa fights his way through modern day Bangkok in the first Ong Bak, and is transported back to the 15th Century for the sequel as a totally different character with a totally different storyline.


Although Ong Bak 3 (which was alos co-written, co-directed and co-produced by Jaa) does continue where part 2 left off, that doesn't save it from being a big hot steamy piece of shit of a movie. I'm not even going to waste your time breaking down the story, because straight up and down it's not worth it! I really don't know what Tony Jaa is thinking, but the man who I felt was the heir to the martial arts throne is making some bad career moves.

When I copped the DVD last night, I expected to be amazed by some next level fight choreographing. What I saw was Jaa trying to flex his feeble acting skills, possibly trying to win a Thai version of an Oscar. The first worthy fight scene (far from classic, but worthy) was not until an hour and four minutes into the movie! The first hour is a bunch of dramatic b.s. that was not worth the $20 plus tax that I invested in this crap-fest. The final fight scene is kind of cool, but again not worth the time and money.

The only joy I really got from watching this movie was that it ended after 90 minutes even though the counter on my PS3 said it was almost two hours long. What came after the credits where some bullshit behind the scenes clips that were in Thai and not really that interesting so I was forced to put them on extreme fast forward.

Another funny thing I want to point out is on the cover of the DVD it shows 2 Tony Jaa's fighting against each other and it says "The Biggest Fight of All is with Himself." This would make the average viewer think that Jaa was going to play 2 characters and have some incredibly shot fight scene where the 2 characters face off. There is a character that resembles Tony Jaa, but it is actually fellow Thai action star Dan Chupong, who does resemble Jaa in a way and returns as the creepy Crow Ghost character that was briefly in Ong Bak 2. I guess they were trying to say that Jaa's character was going to have to find the power within himself to be victorious in this film, but like I said the cover will lead you to believe otherwise.

I give Ong Bak 3 2 Fists.....would have gave it one but the 3 things saved it from being a total shit bomb. 1) The last fight scene was somewhat enjoyable 2) It ended earlier than expected and 3) I give Jaa credit for giving comedic Thai actor Petchtai Wongkamlao roles in his movies.....dude is funny as hell.......





I was trying to find a good clip of the movie, but all I could find was the trailer.....watch at your own risk.....Peace & Blessing for now...The Sage