William Bibbiani Reviews Ong Bak 2: The Beginning!
If you’re anything like me, when you finally finished your list of “People By Whom I Least Wish to Be Kneed in the Face,” Tony Jaa was right at the top. And with good cause! In 2003, Tony Jaa reintroduced the world to Thai martial arts with Ong Bak, a hard-hitting (literally) low-budget beat-‘em-up which catapulted the actor to the foreground of contemporary action cinema. The plot was clumsy at best: “You guys stole my Buddha head… Give me back my Buddha head… I will hit you with my knees, etc.” but the film was refreshing for that very simplicity. Clear, concise plotting punctuated by feats of expertly choreographed physical wonder; these are the things that made Tony Jaa a star.
After a brief foray into the more elephant-centric storytelling of Tom Yum Goong, aka The Protector (“You guys stole my elephant… Give me back my elephant… I will hit you with my knees…”), Tony Jaa returns in Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, which ironically turns Ong Bak 1 into Ong Bak 2 chronologically (and it gets really confusing when you consider that Tom Yum Goong was called Ong Bak 2 in Thailand). The titular nonsense would be forgivable if Ong Bak 2 were another simplicity-powered blast of action-packed fresh air, but no, now Tony Jaa wants to be taken seriously. Ong Bak 2 features a time-jumping narrative, complex philosophical themes and a significantly larger scope, none of which do his particular martial arts action sub-genre any favors. It’s an impressively shot film with some incredibly-conceived action sequences, but when they scrubbed away the grittiness, they appear to have lost most of the appeal as well.
Oh, there are my elephants…!
Tony Jaa plays Tien, an orphaned boy raised by a kindly but badass gang of bandits quite a few centuries ago. He’s trained in every martial art imaginable and groomed to lead his adopted family to new heights of badass banditry, but he cannot accept the responsibility until he takes his revenge upon the evil emperor who murdered his parents. Actually, that does sound pretty simple, but in the hands of now co-writer and co-director Tony Jaa the proceedings are lent an unwelcome air of pretentiousness as we view events out of order, or repeatedly, endlessly delaying much-needed audience gratification. Jaa and his co-director Panna Rittikrai deserve some credit for stretching their creative muscles, but they also lose credibility for sacrificing pacing, clarity and character in their attempts to grasp as far as they reach. (Please don’t hit me in the face with your knees!)
Recognize that Buddha statue in the background…? It’s all coming together, people!
Even so, it would be unfair to call Ong Bak 2: The Beginning a total failure, because it’s really more of an interesting failure. Ong Bak 2 is highly reminiscent of Gangs of New York in that its greatest flaws stem from its greatest ambitions. With larger set pieces appear to have come shorter takes, and Tony Jaa’s trademarked stunts suffer as a result of what may necessarily have been choppy editing. With loftier philosophical interests come experimental storytelling techniques, building the film’s structure on less-than-solid ground. With an ending that can only be described as “Hella Ballsy to the EXTREME!” comes a nevertheless dissatisfying conclusion, cutting the film abruptly short just when conventional storytelling wisdom dictates that it should be entering its final (and most crowd-pleasing) act.
And just like Gangs of New York, or Kingdom of Heaven, or A.I.: Artificial Intelligence, it’s important to applaud striking creative misfires over humdrum trips back to the same old stale well. If this is what it takes to keep talented filmmakers inspired then it’s a fair price to pay, and dedicated fans will certainly find something in the material to please them. But let us also not be afraid to recognize films like Ong Bak 2: The Beginning for what they are: not terribly good. Here’s hoping that Tony Jaa and his collaborators return to form with their next project… and that he doesn’t hit me in the face with his knees.
You see? This…! This is exactly what I was afraid of…!
Ong Bak 2: The Beginning, a Magnet Release, directed Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai, screenplay by Ake Eamchuen, from a story by Tony Jaa & Pann Rittikrai, stars Tony Jaa, Primrata Dej-Udom and Sorapong Chatree, opens in limited release on October 23rd, 2009. Currently available in Video on Demand.
