ONG-BAK (***)
Movies that focus on purely on fight choreography have plots that exist mainly as clotheslines on which to hang the action scenes. Narrative turning points are there solely to push events along, and the motives behind them are at times flimsily contrived. But the fight is the focus, and make no mistake, though ONG-BAK has a rehashed preposterous storyline, its combat is awesome. It is the most physical fight-infused martial arts movie since Jackie Chan’s THE LEGEND OF DRUNKEN MASTER (1994) and reminds me strongly of Jackie’s THE YOUNG MASTER (1980).
The film puts Thailand on the martial arts map, and introduces a new star to the elite ranks of fight choreography, joining Jackie Chan and Jet Li. His name is Tony Jaa, and he is in truest sense, tough as nails. Mr. Jaa is a Muay Thai (Thai boxing) virtuoso, that striking sport popularized by Jean-Claude Van Damme in his kickboxing movies. IMDB.com informs me that he also is proficient in Tae Kwon Do, swordplay, and gymnastics, and used to work as a stuntman. After seeing him strut his stuff, I can only reply, “You don’t say?”
Forget about why what happens in the movie happens. Overlook why a small town hero named Ting (Tony Jaa) must go to the city to recover a stolen shrine. Disregard the fact that its importance is never explained, or why its theft is never reported to the authorities. Ignore why Ting must somersault his way through a crowded market place to escape his captors, or why multiple tuk-tuks (think of a Thai version of our tricycle) go on high pursuit, with highway traffic conveniently absent. The plot is the last of the film’s concerns, and it knows it.
What matters is how it happens. I have seen a great deal of fight choreography, and ONG-BAK’s skirmishes can speak for themselves. There are one-on-one scraps here that have to be seen to be believed. Not because of their balletic grace and intricacy, but for the impact each fighter is willing to give and receive. There is a saying that if you can’t take it, don’t dish out. Boy do these guys take it.
The amount of punishment these stuntmen take is astounding, taking flying elbows, knees, and kicks, head on. Acrobatic blows are taken fully, and at times just before they land, you can see its recipients bracing themselves for impact. But the hits don’t just come from human limbs. There is a sequence where Mr. Jaa takes smashes from beer bottles, chairs, tables, a refrigerator, broken glass, iron bars, and other foreign objects, most of which are not rigged to break apart on impact. Will you believe that he continues his aerial assault while his legs are aflame? These guys do everything they can to put on a convincing show of force, and as they say, "The show must go on."
The movie is not limited to mere acts of violence. It contains physical stunts that would make Jackie Chan proud. Such as marketplace chase where Mr. Jaa leaps hands and feet first clean through a ring of barbed wire. Have you ever seen a man leap clear over the roof over a Honda Civic without a springboard? The movie’s opening sequence contains free-for-all race the top of an acacia tree. Say what you will about its stuntmen falling off into soft soil. Once the movie makes the tree’s height evident, taking the fall takes on a whole new meaning.
Imagining these scenes and seeing them are two different things. If you can put up with its horrid plotting, I encourage you to do the latter. ONG-BAK is an amazing celebration of what the human body can do (and take). Without CGI or wires, it’s a one-man show in the tradition of Jackie Chan, Buster Keaton, and Gene Kelly. Geoff Pevere of the Toronto Star was right, “The time to catch Tony Jaa is now.”
Posted by FLIPCRITIC at April 16, 2005 12:26 PM