.......................Tony Jaa of the 21st Century.......................................

"Ong Bak:The Thai Warrior" is an amazing bundle of energy in the form of Panom Yeerum AKA Tony Jaa. It's an explosion of energy that has enough octane for at least two movies at maximum warp.

The movie opens up simply enough. There is a shot of rural Thailand with a HUGE 100 to 200 year old tree (the species, I could not tell) and then they show a line of young men all painted up in mud looking at the tree. Then in one yell, everyone scrambles to get up the tree as quickly as possible. At the same time, everyone is fighting to prevent all the others from going up the tree. The goal is to reach the top of the tree, grab a silk flag and then get back on the ground in one piece without having it stolen from you. It's an exciting race that is eventually won by, as we learn, Ting (Tony Jaa). This is like a traditional Thai appetizer for what lies ahead in this movie.

A stranger shows up known as Don (Wannakit Sirioput) who wants to buy an ancient amulet that is part of the village of Nong Pradu. As we learn later, he is a two bit drug dealer out to make a lot of money trafficking Thai antiquities. He works for Khom Tuan (Suchao Pongwilai), a crime boss in Bangkok. The amulet isn't for sale so in anger he steals the head of the village's Buddhist statue, Ong Bak. The villagers fear death to their village without it so young Ting volunteers to go to Bangkok and retrieve it. What will happen? Will he get the revered head of the ong bak back or will the village die in penance?


OK, let's be straight here. The story in the end is not much of a story. It's a patchwork and weaving of a lot of little tales and coincidences to showcase an amazing, jaw dropping and uncanny martial artist. You'll find familiar formulaic characters that can be found in stories all over the world. The main attraction, however, for "Ong Bak:The Thai Warrior" is Tony Jaa. By the time the movie ends you are drunk and overstuffed in consuming all things Tony Jaa but strangely satisfied and content.

There is word that Tony Jaa is the Second Coming. I would agree with that. Tony Jaa is the most amazing and talented human being I have seen in years--decades, even! There is nothing that he cannot do and he proves it by the time the end credits role. Tony is a master at a form of martial arts known as Muy Thai. It's essentially a Thai form of kickboxing with flourishes. This is different from the kick boxing that the Japanese have perfected. Muy Thai allows Tony Jaa to kick, jab, crunch, kerplewy and every other kind of verb in the human language. Muy Thai is also known as 'nine body weapons,' which translates into two fists, two elbows, two feet, two knees and a head. Because it is so different from the more mainstream forms of martial arts that we see on the big and little screens, it has a rather organic and raw feel to it. At the same time, the movie screen is electric every microsecond that Tony Jaa is on it. When he does a simple move like a kick it astounds and surprises you because it was only a kick but it looked like so much more. This happens over and over for the next 100 minutes.

In the first scenes in Bankok, Tony unwittingly ends up fighting in a Thai version of a fight club. It's here where we see his basic martial arts skills. Because Muy Thai is so different from most other forms of Asian martial arts, there is a beauty, and at the same time brutality, to it. In two points in the movie, we see Tony's character go through 'regimens,' like a warm-up before he actually fights. The moves are provocative and unfamiliar. Kung Fu and Karate this is not! There is a fluidity and rhythm to Tony's moves despite the inevitable physical pain that results. You can tell that a lot of the thugs that Tony ends up fighting are based on strength rather than skill. We see them throwing things at Tony or attempting to hit or lift and body slam him. Clearly these guys are like freight trains in power only but Tony can floor them with one kick or elbow slam. It's here that the audience can appreciate his core skills. If it weren't so brutal, it would almost be like classical dance.

This movie is great on several levels. First, there are no special effects or hidden wires to help the actors and stunt people along. What you see on the screen is what you get. One slight error could mean a variation of an inch and serious injury. It is that close and no help in the offering. The closest thing to these kinds of stunts on the screen prior to this movie would be some of Jackie Chan's more classic movies. But even then, there are a few things that I'm not sure that even Jackie Chan could do. In one pursuit scene, we see Tony Jaa running to get away from some undesirables picked up by acquaintance and former fellow villager George/Hum Lae (Petchtai Wongkamlao). Tony leaps over cars, in between strategically placed panes of glass, over a wok of boiling oil, vaults over some dangerously castrating potential farm tools and through an iron wreath of razor wire. You keep being amazed and asking over and over how in the world he does that. At one point in order to escape the men, Tony Jaa does a gymnastic split that takes him under a low lying truck that HAS to have hurt or he has testicles of steel! Ouch!

There are no wires. It has been emphasized over and over again by both Tony Jaa as well as the director. With the advent of 'advanced technology' in martial arts movies today, one would assume that there are wires supporting the actors and stuntmen. I can believe that there are none for this movie. Many of the stunts are performed in such a way that wires would actually impede its success. Anyway, there is no actual 'flying' in this movie like we have seen in so many of the bigger hits in recent years. We do see Tony flip, somersault and jettison himself in every direction but they are all on his own power. So when we see Tony Jaa walking on men's shoulders to get away, he is actually walking on men's shoulders!

It's clear that director Prachya Pinkaew understood the impact of many of the scenes. Gladly, there are many scenes where they repeat in slow motion the most amazing stunts from a secondary view. Like the leap through the wreath of razor wire. That was an eye popping scene and to make people understand how difficult and amazing it was, they showed it once at regular speed and then repeated it in slow motion at a second, and better, angle. In some cases, doing repeats would be a problem but this was actually an asset to this movie. You'll understand if you see the movie. The stunts are that spectacular. I don't want to give all the stunts away but you're going to be glad to get second glances at many of these stunts.......believe me.

There is also a clear, comical sense to this movie that actually works quite well. One was the insertion of George as Ting's 'sidekick.' George has an unfailing ability to attract trouble. It seems that if he is in a room and there is troubled elements there, George will find it. George is kind of like the prodigal son. He is the son of the village leader who left to go to the big city under the pretense of education. Instead he ends up being a not very good scam artist and all kind of trouble follows. In their very first meeting, George steals Ting's money and it goes from there. A match made in Heaven, or Hell. The comedy does work in this movie. It works because the George character is actually a competent martial artist so he may be a klutz at times but he always comes through in the end. It also works because the violence would be exhausting to watch otherwise. The comedic touch acts to lighten the mood a bit.

Next to the story, or lack thereof, the other big problem with this movie was the dialogue. Much of it was adequate but some of it was downright stupid. Ting finds George badly injured, barely lucid and he has a 2 ton stone head of a Buddha leaning on him and his first words are, "George, are you all right?" Huh??? Since Thailand has a film industry that is still in it's infancy, I would credit inexperience. I would hope, however, that in the future they spend a bit more time working and refining the story and dialogue BEFORE yelling 'action.'

In summary, you always hear about movies that are so groundbreaking that it becomes like a legend within a genre or within history. Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" is in that league. I would consider Akira Kurosawa's "Ran" in that league as well. Well, now you can add another movie called, "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior." I guarantee that you have not seen a movie like this. Despite its flaws, there is a lot to like about this movie. This is a different kind of martial arts movie with a Thai flair. The level and intensity of the stunts reach a new level and raise the bar to what might be expected in a martial arts movie. Tony Jaa could be the next leader in a new generation of martial arts movies. I think he's already here.