Ong Bak 2

[Crouchingtigger]

Fresh out from the theater and a freshmen here - here goes my first post. Ong Bak 2 with Tony Jaa is a bit of a disappointment. I was warned that it wasn't as good as Ong Bak 1 by a friend who saw it in Bangkok. By the way, this OB 2 has nothing to do with the first one. The trailers looks good and captivating as they always do. Visually, the art direction and costumes are beautiful. I can tell a pretty big budget when into this film but the pace of this film is a let down. Too many slow scenes that just drags on and on having me to think " Get on with it and lets see the action!" There is a scene with the female lead dancing for the bad guys that just went on too long. Plus they repeated some scenes that just wasn't necessary. The fight scenes were ok but here, you can see Tony Jaa is NOT a master of all martial arts as his character claims to be. His character fights with different styles that he learned but it seems he incorporates his own style back in. There are lots of fight scenes spread out and I was disappointed that there wasn't a good final fight scene as I thought there would be building up to the end. And, the ending is kinda "ZENish" and I did not like it - but I won't spoil it here. For action, I would pick some of his other movies over this one.

This year my action film vote goes to Ip Man.

[bolofan]

Yeah I was hyped for this one... but the more I read reviews the more I'm feeling less bothered about it.
I will still end up watching it though.

[DragonSword]

they are probably saving the best for last in ONG-BAK 3.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I just watched what looked like a "work print" of this, no subs, and I don't speak the language. But I gotta say: I LOVED IT!

It's not a stunt-fest like ONG-BAK, but much more martial arts oriented. I didn't find it slow, despite the lack of understanding the dialogue, and thought that the dance sequence was quite beautiful.

Tony's direction was very refreshing- nothing like that of his previous go-to director. It felt more natural, and he has a keen eye for details that took me right into the world he depicted.

I thought the action was awesome. His drunken boxing, tiger, and other styles still incorporated his Mui Thai skills, and in IMHO were quite breath-taking. I also felt that he incorporated his fancy moves and outrageous techniques more realistically within the fight chorography. Nothing looked blatantly like "Wait, we're going to stop the show for... THIS!" like in his last two films. Techniques were more logically and naturally woven into the action. And I was in heaven when he took up the 3 piece staff!

I always felt like ONG-BAK was like Tony Jaa's Jackie Chan film. This felt more like Tony's take on a Shaw Brothers type of movie. I think most Jaa fans will enjoy this a lot.

I cannot wait to buy the official releases of this film. :D

[bolofan]

Hey Kung Fu Bob, could you be so kind as to point a Jaa addict in the right direction for that workprint, I've seen a rough Cam copy but I didn't bother watching as the quality was awful.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Hey Bro, the copy I saw was bought from eBay. It's on VCD, and it looked terrible. It was dark, over-cropped at the top and bottom, and the entire widescreen image was compressed into full-frame. Fortunately, I have an old Malata 520 DVD player with X-Y scaling that allowed me to stretch the image back out to the proper aspect ratio. Once I saw the quality I decided there was no way I was watching this movie that I was so excited about in this wretched format. :l





Then I watched it. XD

[bolofan]

Yeah, that was the same one I saw, although there is another cam copy floating about which isn't overcropped and has the full picture and aspect ratio.
Still, its a cam and I'm not willing to watch it until something very good turns up. Much better quality though.

[inframan]

Drunken boxing? 3 section staff? I'm in! XD

[bolofan]

Yeah, the fight scenes are pure eye candy, I think people who criticised it because there wasn't enough backflips of nasty falls are a bit lame because there is some seriously intense stuff going on in this film.

[KUNG FU BOB]

You guys know the saying: "You can please some of the people some of the time, but you can never please all of the people all of the time".

Everyone has different expectations, so there are going to be fans who don't get what they want. But personally, I really dig Tony and his skills, and I wanted to see a martial arts flick that wasn't bland, stupid, and empty, and that's what I got. I mean, I love the action in TOM YUM GOONG, and would rate it a 10 easily. But the film itself? Maybe a 3. The directing is seriously flawed. I actually thought ONG-BAK was a much better film than TYG, but it also suffered from a flawed structure, script, et. Now I'm no snob when it comes to these films. I know that they usually aren't masterpieces, but simply frameworks for cool action. Like THUNDERING MANTIS- an Oh-so-typical plot... but it features outrageous kung fu. However... when you get films like LEGEND OF A FIGHTER, FEARLESS, and HERO, that have the best of both worlds, it's really a treat. I feel that ONG-BAK 2 has risen above the usual stuff, though not quite to the level of the classics I just mentioned. But it's a HELL OF A DIRECTORIAL DEBUT!

BRAVO TONY!

[makone]

the copy i saw was crap i think i only saw a 3rd of the screen, but i couldn`t wait any longer .the film itself i thought was good, jaa was great. i think it shows a more mature jaa.
i honestly think he should go and work with the hong kong guys or at least hire one of them to direct a film for him. but for a first time director its up there with the majority of thai films i`ve seen.

[Crouchingtigger]

Interesting Pros and Cons. Tony Jaa really has brought Thailand action films to an international audience and I think he has inspired others in Thailand as well. Not be off topic in my our thread but who has seen "Chocolate?" A female version of Tony Jaa and THIS is a very good action film with a better flow in the script. Anyone care to do a review?

[Tosh]

Great to hear your review KFbob, seems a lot of people are mixed with this film. I agree 100% though Ong Bak was a far better movie than TYG, so I'm thinking this one is right down my alley. SO, is the Ong Bak buddha in this or what? People keep saying this movie has nothing to do with the first one but I thought the Buddha statue is what tied them together. GD I can't wait to see this! I've become friendly with some Thai people that own a restaurant here, I'll have to see if they can't hook me up!

[KUNG FU BOB]

Great to hear your review KFbob, seems a lot of people are mixed with this film. SO, is the Ong Bak buddha in this or what? People keep saying this movie has nothing to do with the first one but I thought the Buddha statue is what tied them together.

You know, I can't remember for sure. :o I think I did see it, but I'm not certain. And to be honest, I just don't want to look at that horrible version I initially saw again- I feel like the film just deserves so much better. I'll buy the first official release of this- subs or not- before I'll watch it again (and again, and again). :p

Not be off topic in my our thread but who has seen "Chocolate?" A female version of Tony Jaa and THIS is a very good action film with a better flow in the script. Anyone care to do a review?

Hey CT, welcome to the forum! I'm a big Tigger fan myself, so- respect. XD

On CHOCOLATE: there are a couple of threads going for this movie already. So check them out for people's thoughts. But since you asked- personally, I thought it was a very good movie. For me, the action started out just okay. I was thinking, yeah, she's doing a Jackie Chan fight scene, and she's pulling off the moves, but not quite as good. But then each action scene seemed to built up in tempo, the complexity of the moves, the fierceness of the fights, getting better and better in every scene, until by the end I was sitting on the edge of my seat yelling at the screen "Are you kidding me?! Holy shit!" :D

I can't wait for the Magnolia release of this.

[Yuen Fei Lung]

I was incredibly dissappointed in Ong Bak 2 because I enjoyed the first movie so much. I felt that the first Ong Bak paid such homage to Bruce Lee films. It had a modern setting with martial arts that, like in Lee's films, worked.

Maybe I wouldn't feel Ong Bak 2 was a dissapointment if it didn't have the name "Ong Bak" in the title. It has some good fight scenes but I didn't feel it had anywhere near the impact the first film had.

[BaronK]

People really can't seem to be able to get past the title. It was a marketing move. Where TYG was in a sense, really OB2, this is it's own movie completely, connected only for ease of attention grabbing.

I personally look forward to more from Jaa, as he is bringing the martial aspect back to movies. I love that.

[VenomsFan]

in an interview Tony Jaa mentions Ong Bak 2 and Ong Bak 3 are prequels to the Ong Bak 1.

[Fightingfist]

i cant wait for ong-bak 3

[LeRolls]

I really hope that Magnet gets off their ass and releases the damn Blu-Ray for this movie soon.

[kingofkungfu2002]

Got my Korean dvd today, and I can confirm it does have English subs :smile:
The only extra is a 17 minute 'Making Of'.

[globe]

i have 2 words for this movie "TOTAL GARBAGE"
dont give up your day job,tony jaa

[kingofkungfu2002]

dont give up your day job,tony jaa

This IS his day job :squigglemouth:

[bengs]

I saw a average quality Chinese bootleg copy with poor english subtitles.. picture was OK but translation wasn't great so I couldn't follow the story, but the action sequences are great. I loved how the styles flow into each other and the fights in general didn't stand out from the story. I'll be looking to get a better quality DVD copy because I enjoyed it alot.

Regarding the story,

*POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD?..*

I didn't think so either watching the story but this is a prequel to the first film from what i read online.. there's nothing in "Ong Bak 2" which has any reference to the first one, although at the end of the final fight scene where Tien (Jaa's character) gets surrounded and about to be taken away, the film ends there as it is, but fades to dialogue - please remember the version I have seen was poorly translated - which implies "meeting this man again in many years after he has cheated death", and Tien is onscreen with a full beard standing in front of a scarred Golden Buddha statue.. this is an implication of reincarnation, or divine intervention or some other mystical solution which will tie "Ong Bak 3" back to the first film.... the little bit of information I have seen about the third film so far is that it will be an direct continuation from the second film.. Tien gets captured and tortued which results in severely damaged legs and arms.. then he will go on and fight 'boneless' (i think that is worth alone for seeing the third film)... so that could be a way to bring the story back to "modern era" and tie in back to the first film

Anyway I thought the shot at the end was great of Tien in front of the scarred Golden Buddha statue...

Oh also the producers are hoping the film will be out by the end of this year.. it is also possible because they said they will be using alot of unused footage from the second film

[The Silver Fox]

I thought Ong Bak 2 was great. The 'period' setting is more suited to this type of film (kind of like a martial arts version of Conan). The action /fighting sequences are superb .Lots of different hand to hand combat styles on display and nice weapons work. I got ahold of a Thai version with no English subs but seeing as the plot is secondary it didn't stop me from understanding or enjoying the film. Jaa is in peak forum and I think we can expect great things from him in the future.

Sure, it's not Shakespeare but who watches a film like this for complex plotting? It delivers where it counts-the action. I for one, am glad it doesn't veer off into dramatic pretensions or love interest . So many movies try to do too much. Better to do one thing really well than several things on a mediocre level. Ong Bak 2 is a refreshingly savage action movie that contains several intense fighting sequences that should satisfy even casual martial arts fans.

[bengs]

Silver Fox got it right.. there's just enough of a story there to keep it going, but your not watching it for a story or for drama.. just the action

[VenomsFan]

Silver Fox got it right.. there's just enough of a story there to keep it going, but your not watching it for a story or for drama.. just the action

Bruce Lee said "A motion picture should have a lot of motion. Keep the dialog down to a minimum". As a director he pulls it off WONDERFULLY. Because even if you do not understand Thai, the visuals, acting, editing all come together to help tell the story.

That is just good storytelling IMO.

And the action is as Silver Fox described.

[DragonSword]

I wonder if Tony is still trying to get Jackie in OB4.

[Fightingfist]

Not bad but prefer the first one.

[Lorenzol]

I went to see this at the Toronto Film Festival and I have to agree that the action sequences are great however, as his previous movies, the plot and editing are lacking.

[viscoelasticfoammattress]

I went to see this at the Toronto Film Festival and I have to agree that the action sequences are great however, as his previous movies, the plot and editing are lacking.

+1

yeah, just finished watching this movie as well, not as good as the first one.

[LeRolls]

I'm wtill waiting for Magnet to get off their asses and release the freaking Blu-Ray over here.

[OldPangYau]

I finally saw this last night "On Demand", after discovering it wouldn't be opening at a decent movie theater next weekend (the original Ong Bak played at a movie theater I go to nearly every weekend... not so much this time, it seems). Despite the complaints I've read the past year, I thoroughly enjoyed this. Tony Jaa went "all Apocalypto" with the cinematography and directing, and the switch from his films being in 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 gives a bit more "epicness" to the feel of the film.


*SPOILERS*


And people are saying it's lacking a story... eh, a bit, but I think what story it has is more broad than the stories of OB and TYG. If anything, it felt almost like the Shaolin rebellion films Chang Cheh directed in the glory days of SB. The vague ending initially made me feel disappointed... until I saw the famous "slashed buddha" behind Jaa right before the credits rolled. Now I REALLY want to see OB3 to see how this continues and how it all connects to the original OB.

Is Ting the LOOOOOOOONG multiple-reincarnation of Tien? Only took 600+ years :tongue:

[OMG Blaze]

Honestly, the fight scenes, and stunt performed by Tony Jaa. Aswell as the various forms of Martial Arts used, make me over look the "eehh story". Especially the final fight, against the masked ninjas.

Bought this for 5 bucks, and my favorite Martial Arts Movie kiosk.

[Tosh]

Is Ting the LOOOOOOOONG multiple-reincarnation of Tien? Only took 600+ years :tongue:

This was my thinking before I even saw it, I think it will be the tie in, I find it interesting.