Issue Date: 10/26/09
'Ong Bak 2' lacks substance
1 star out of 4
By Nigel Harris
"Ong Bak 2" has all the action a viewer could ever want in a movie, but it lacks the substance to be worth the ticket price.
Tony Jaa stars as Tien in "Ong Bak 2," set in feudal Thailand with a rebellion freshly quelled Tien seeks to avenge his family. Tien proves his worth to the outlaw king, Chernang, who teaches him all aspects of martial arts.
Tony Jaa makes his directorial debut in "Ong Bak 2," which is really isn't a sequel besides the same name, and Jaa doesn't exactly start out on a good foot.
The characters are shallow and require more development. The dialogue, with what little there is, tries too hard to be the driving force of the film's narrative. It fails to do anything other than provide a laugh.
"Ong Bak 2" struggles to bring a story together. The film's antagonist is revealed too late in the movie, leaving a viewer wondering why he or she is watching the movie at all.
The story progresses too slowly for the audience to stay interested. Jaa's love interest might as well not be in the movie with how minor a role she plays.
The film also has a lot of flashbacks, but the flashbacks in "Ong Bak 2" are events that have already been shown, and some of them happen not even a half an hour prior to the scene being shown again.
Had Jaa removed these sections, he might have been able to build the film's narrative to wipe away some of the confusion.
The cinematography only adds to the confusion. Jaa's sense of camera work is awful. It's as if the film's entire budget was spent on good camera work for the fight scenes and the rest of the movie was an afterthought. The visuals in the film were all about rain and mud in an attempt to give the film a gritty feel.
Instead, it just distracted from what was going on onscreen. The visual cues were heavy handed, focusing on plot points for far too long to make sure the viewer picked up on them.
The film's climax and resolution come out of nowhere almost as if to dare the audience to ask what just happened.
In contrast to all of the negative aspects, Jaa's performance shows his diversity in the martial arts. Known for his excellence in Muay Thai, Jaa displays a wide variety of fighting styles, including an incredible show of his weapons knowledge. Jaa's fight scenes are beautifully choreographed.
The film's action scenes are elaborate and complex, yet the fights flow seamlessly together and feel almost as if you are watching the actors perform a very unique and complex dance rather than a violent fight. The fight scenes are the only aspect that keeps this movie afloat.
"Ong Bak 2" has a lot of excellent action scenes, and although that is mainly what I am looking for in an action movie, I found myself wanting to fast-forward to only watch the parts where Jaa was ripping out the bad guys' tracheas.
Tony Jaa stars as Tien in "Ong Bak 2," set in feudal Thailand with a rebellion freshly quelled Tien seeks to avenge his family. Tien proves his worth to the outlaw king, Chernang, who teaches him all aspects of martial arts.
Tony Jaa makes his directorial debut in "Ong Bak 2," which is really isn't a sequel besides the same name, and Jaa doesn't exactly start out on a good foot.
The characters are shallow and require more development. The dialogue, with what little there is, tries too hard to be the driving force of the film's narrative. It fails to do anything other than provide a laugh.
"Ong Bak 2" struggles to bring a story together. The film's antagonist is revealed too late in the movie, leaving a viewer wondering why he or she is watching the movie at all.
The story progresses too slowly for the audience to stay interested. Jaa's love interest might as well not be in the movie with how minor a role she plays.
The film also has a lot of flashbacks, but the flashbacks in "Ong Bak 2" are events that have already been shown, and some of them happen not even a half an hour prior to the scene being shown again.
Had Jaa removed these sections, he might have been able to build the film's narrative to wipe away some of the confusion.
The cinematography only adds to the confusion. Jaa's sense of camera work is awful. It's as if the film's entire budget was spent on good camera work for the fight scenes and the rest of the movie was an afterthought. The visuals in the film were all about rain and mud in an attempt to give the film a gritty feel.
Instead, it just distracted from what was going on onscreen. The visual cues were heavy handed, focusing on plot points for far too long to make sure the viewer picked up on them.
The film's climax and resolution come out of nowhere almost as if to dare the audience to ask what just happened.
In contrast to all of the negative aspects, Jaa's performance shows his diversity in the martial arts. Known for his excellence in Muay Thai, Jaa displays a wide variety of fighting styles, including an incredible show of his weapons knowledge. Jaa's fight scenes are beautifully choreographed.
The film's action scenes are elaborate and complex, yet the fights flow seamlessly together and feel almost as if you are watching the actors perform a very unique and complex dance rather than a violent fight. The fight scenes are the only aspect that keeps this movie afloat.
"Ong Bak 2" has a lot of excellent action scenes, and although that is mainly what I am looking for in an action movie, I found myself wanting to fast-forward to only watch the parts where Jaa was ripping out the bad guys' tracheas.
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