Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Nayan Gough
A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.
Matylda Swan
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.
Leofwine_draca
I came to ONG BAK: THE BEGINNING with mixed feelings, because I'd heard so much contradictory stuff about it. Some say it's a very poor film, a disappointing follow-up; others rave over it and say it surpasses the original. The truth is that it's a very different film in terms of scope and feel, and, while the troubled production history has left it looking a little rough around the edges – especially in terms of the editing, which has the story needlessly jumping backwards and forwards through time when a more chronological approach would have been better – it offers the same level of enjoyment as its predecessor. I may like it less on repeat viewings, but for my first-time encounter I had a ball with this one.If anything, Jaa is more intense, more raw, more brutal than in the first film. There's an extra gloss of professionalism that was missing from that down 'n' dirty martial arts showpiece. For instance, there's a real story here, hints of a romantic sub-plot, even a couple of plot twists along the way – including a biggie at the climax. In the end, though, it's all about the action, and it's still plentiful and beautifully shot. Our hero battles an evil army in this one, thumping his way through slave traders and black-clad assassins and engaging in some gruelling training sequences. Jaa's skill as a fighter has increased and there's weapon-play aplenty here, along with the traditional elbow and knee moves. Inevitably, the best stuff is saved for the extended climax, quite simply one of the best-shot things to ever come out of Thailand; I can't wait to watch it through a second time to catch all the incredible stunts and battles. Things end on a real cliffhanger, paving the way for ONG BAK 3, a film whose trailer makes it out to be just as good – if not better – than this one.
julesdil
Yes it has a good story ong bak. The beginning has some of the better fight scenes in better than warrior king. The characters are OK but tony jaa gives the best entertainment there is a martial art based story but its still not good as the script or the setting just didn't work. I t is filmed in a low budget way but it has style at time and some bone breaking in the fights but its not saving the film. There is not enough enjoyment not enough realism and some cgi which spoils it but it was than warrior king but still mostly bad than good. Ong bak 3 is to be reviewed that has badness written all over it but some thai culture odd good thai move. And excellent music bit cgi i haven't got any expectedness for tom yum goong 2
Spike
I enjoyed the original Ong Bak, though I'm one of those people who thought the fighting got a bit samey by the end. Anyway, I figured I'd check out the second in the series since it had a lot of glowing reviews here at IMDb.Two-word summary: it's awful.Four-word summary: don't waste your time.The first 15 minutes or so are an assemblage of vague, random events supposedly setting the scene for later events. It could be said that the flashbacks throughout the movie are intended to provide the missing detail piece by piece (and thus the opening is "intriguing"), but most people would like SOME indication of what's going on, who people are and whether anything that happens is at all important. As it stands, it's just a mess.The rest of the movie consists predominantly of average fight scenes strung together by a lack of story and a LOT of posturing. The whole thing tries SO hard to be dramatic that it's laughable: far too many pauses, close-ups and showdowns (which are mostly people staring at each other before something entirely predictable happens).The movie could be about two-thirds as long and be a riot of action but, as it is, it makes little sense. There's no logic to most of it - e.g. Tien getting "revenge" on slavers when those who captured him were slaughtered by the bandits who adopted him - and it's tedious. The dialog is appalling and, again, tries to be dramatic but fails miserably because there is absolutely no sense of danger at any time - everything moves too slow to get the adrenaline pumping.And the ending? Oh dear. Talk about just stopping production with no apparent reason or sense.All in all, it's a real shame. The first one was fun and had some good fights. This one isn't and doesn't. Avoid it unless you like an awful lot of really long closeups of people trying to look dramatic.
duckitsbrianwigg
Well, I thought the movie was alright. The storyline wasn't that smart in my opinion, as it seemed pretty simple, and not deeply thought through. Also, sometimes when the music was played, it gave the movie a sense of simpleness too. Seemed kind of corny for a serious martial arts film. The acting was good and convincing I thought, but some of the lines were kind of obvious. During several scenes, the lines sounded as if the movie was meant to be intelligent and teach some deep meaningful message, however, it was simple explanations for tactics when fighting, and it was far too little. The only thing that kept me from rating this movie as significantly below-average was the fighting scenes. A couple of them were some of the best scenes that I've seen in over 100 Asian martial arts movies. And I thought there were many scenes that could have been deleted.
