Ong Bak is a peculiar film in that it essentially imitates imitations. Kickboxer, Bloodsport, and similar films by Van Damme made Muay Thai popular to a degree to aficionados of B-film fans of martial arts action.
The films mentioned are also well known for being blatantly influenced by films from the Far East, but providing a Western spin. Films like these were well known for their putrid plots, and focusing more on the over the top action, over the top stunts, and over the top bellowing, and lots of ludicrous sub plots like that of an underground overlord that kidnaps everyone close to the hero and prizes their freedom for a fight.
Strangely enough, this is what Ong Bak does, and it’s quite interesting. Ai Tim is the village prodigy of Muay Thai, orphaned as a child at the temple, he was brought up by monks and it to be ordained as such. Unfortunately, during one particular night, their statue of Ong Bak is cut off and stolen by youths working for, you guessed it, an underground overlord. This guy, we’ll call him the Boss, wanted an amulet from one of the villagers, but the villager refuses.
In its stead, the youths decide to lop off the head of the statue. There’s a ceremony coming up, everyone is shitting themselves that the world will go to hell if they don’t get the head back. Stand up Ai Tim, let yourself be heard! So Ai Tim volunteers to search for the head, and of course on the way he gets in all sorts of shenanigans. That young whipper snapper!
Before he left, he was told to contact Ai Lue, someone who used to live in the village, but nicked their cash and went to the city. He now tries to pull scams against drug dealers and gamblers to earn his keep, with the aide of Muay, a young girl who is hopefully over the age of 16. The two of end up arguing over a botched scam where Ai Lue had the shit kicked out of him, and this is where Ai Tim finds him.
Indeed during two of the main fights related to the story, the sidekick takes an injected substance to relieve the pain of constipation and also to increase his strength and resistance to pain
Initially reluctant to accept that Ai Tim knows him, or that he too was from the village, he then hears the clinging of Ai Tim’s coins and invites him up. As Ai Tim goes to the bathroom, Ai Lue decides to take the money and gamble it at a ring. Illegal gambling and fighting make the mix here, and it’s no surprise that Ai Tim follows and finds the two scammers watching the match and scamming his money away. He inadvertently steps into the ring, and becomes a contender. With one swift kick, the opponent is down, and Ai Tim gets his money back.
So begins the tug of war and predictability of the eventual friendship between the three through lots of fighting and bonding. Ai Lue succumbs to Ai Tim’s way of living, and decides he will go back to the village to become a monk, and also help Ai Tim get the head of Ong Bak back (there’s a mini tongue twister for you!), but that’s towards the end of the movie.
Before that, however, he decides to continue attempting to steal and scam cash. This leads to a large street chase. As the three make a run for it, we realise this film is what Van Damme did for Western audiences but in a Thai environment. Watch as the camera replays show Ai Tim do a multitude of stunts, jumps and acrobatics with objects that just happen to be there, out of the blue, conveniently obstructing his path to escape. Ooo and ahhh as he jumps over tables, runs over people’s heads, side jumps panes of glass, jumps through a hoop of barbed wire. Yes folks, welcome to the Thai circus, with extra helpings of different camera angles, and that often little used feature: slow motion. Marvel at the skill. Actually, really marvel, because some of the stuff is really quite impressive, coming across as a cross between Bruce-Lee-Lite and Jackie-Chan-Lite but with more aggression and less flair, and more scowling.
The other major bit I guess is the James Bond-esque Rickshaw (is that how you spell it?) chase. Involving a multitude pile up of Rickshaws, jumping off Rickshaws, and of course, the Rickshaw off the edge of a port and into the water scene. It’s all enjoyable stuff though, and it goes on for a quite a bit. Coming across as an Italian-Job-Lite version of the Mini Cooper drive. It’s very well choreographed, very well orchestrated and works well enough, if unconvincingly.
But you don’t want to hear about that. You also don’t want to hear about, well actually you may want to know about the most ludicrous Boss you’ll ever likely to see. Looking like a peasant from some village himself, the Boss is a cripple in a wheelchair who has lost his voice (perhaps they’ll explain how in a spin off called “Crippled Boss from Ong Bak in Spin Off film”), has a hole in his throat, and uses a voice box to talk.
If this was American, imagine Stephen Hawking as a Crime Lord, “Yo-u a-re go-in-g t-o d-i-e” in a very Amiga/ST cheapo computer vocal generator type way. You can’t take the guy seriously for one minute, to do so would be to accept that green monkeys to live under your bed. There’s one scene where he smokes through the hole in his neck, and you can tell it’s CGI (or is it?) as it’s one of those “now you see it, now you don’t” moments. Perhaps I just didn’t pay enough attention and it’s always there, but it’s comical nonetheless. Towards the end, he no longer seems to require his voice box, and can actually talk without it, in that same Stephen Hawkings-like voice style which has become so popular with children 17 and over, world wide.
Films like these were well known for their putrid plots, and focusing more on the over the top action, over the top stunts, and over the top bellowing
His side kick is a very angry guy. Perhaps more constipated than his Boss, it’s as if he hasn’t shitted for weeks. He looks at Ai Tim fighting, as if there’s some jealousy that he doesn’t have constipation like himself. Indeed during two of the main fights related to the story, the sidekick takes an injected substance to relieve the pain of constipation and also to increase his strength and resistance to pain. Of course I lied, the guy doesn’t take any drugs for constipation, he just lives with it. It’s his entire motivation for life.
But you probably don’t want to know about that either. So the fights, this is what the film is about. The story is just a way to get to a fight, it serves no other purpose as this film has been iconic not for its Oscar winning screenplay, but for it’s fighting. The actor play Ai Tim is versatile as hell, and pretty skilled it seems, as well as doing his own stunts and acrobatics, the guy fights like a bloody ravaged tiger. Some of the fights make you nod your head in acknowledgment at the technicality and skill involved, you also grin and acknowledge that is is indeed a fight worth watching, and rather tepid plot line was worth sitting through just to get to the fights.
There are moments when the fights seem a bit fake, and other times where you wonder if they’re really having a go at each other as it seems to get quite brutal at times. Somethings don’t connect, and somethings seem to connect more than they should, and then we have the replays of course, like some televised sporting event. The only thing lacking is commentary. Still, like the chase scenes, which are wonderfully choreographed the same is true of the fight scenes. There are moments of Western-tackiness, with over the top prize fighters, and repeat scenes used at different intervals, which seems a bit cheap, but the cheesiness of it all I guess adds to the hilarity and entertainment value of the film.
Overall, Ong Bak is an over the top action film with a lunatic plot, some bad acting and odd choices of actors, the most diabolical translation in subtitles (all in broken English, no less) put together in a fun and entertaining package of kick ass fighting.
Verdict: Stupid and hilarious plot, but the action is worth it.