Set in fifteenth century Thailand, this film opens with a man and a boy fleeing along a forest track on horseback; the boy gets off and escapes and the man is killed. The boy, Tien, isn't out of trouble though; he is captured by slavers then, after attacking a captor, he is forced to fight for his life… against a crocodile! He is saved by Chernang; the leader of a bandit group known as the 'Garuda Wing Cliff'. Tien is invited to join the group and trains to be a fighter.In a series of flashbacks we learn about his past; he was the son of a local lord who had been trained to dance rather than fight, much to his chagrin. His family is then killed by power hungry lord leaving Tien the sole survivor. We then see that this happened just before the opening scene. Returning to the older Tien, he has finished his training and is now determined to get his revenge on those who killed his family.I haven't seen the original 'Ong Bak' but from what I've read this has nothing to do with that apart from sharing a title and main star. The plot is fairly simple; it is clearly there to provide an excuse for lots of martial arts scenes… and these are pretty spectacular. Tony Jaa does a great job as Tien in these scenes; the action is impressively choreographed in a really physical way; yes he does defeat countless attackers but it does at least look as if the fighting takes a toll on him. There is surprisingly little dialogue; just enough to tell us what is happening although I suspect one could turn off the subtitles and still follow what is happening! The ending is a spectacular fight that finishes in a way that is clearly setting things up for a sequel. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to anybody wanting lots of great martial arts action without needing a deep plot.

Set in 15th Century Thailand, the subtitled "Ong Bak: 2" brings little that is new to the martial-arts genre - but a barrel load of impressive fight scenes and an authentic look make it worthwhile viewing for the aficionado. It's the oldie about a young boy who is trained to become a righteous warrior, standing up for the innocent and the helpless against a cruelly oppressive regime.As noted, there isn't much in the way of storytelling, dialogue and characterization to distinguish "Ong Bak: 2" from the countless other films in this category, but the battle scenes are impressively staged and mounted, with a brutality that, while it makes them hard to watch at times, seems an accurate reflection of the era in which it's set. Moreover, directors Panna Rittikrai and Tony Jaa (who plays the lead role) never feel the need to prettify the setting, offering up a screen full of snaggle-toothed, matted-locked extras to go along with all the muck and mud.Tien, ace martial arts fighter and tamer of elephants, takes on a half-a-dozen opponents at a time, slicing-and-dicing and karate-chopping them into the dust, only to have them rise again to face a second, third, even fourth humiliating go-round at his punishing hands. It's 100% absurd and just about everything a die-hard martial arts fan could wish for from such a film.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is not a continuation of the first film, neither is it a prequel in the true sense; the story takes place several hundred years ago, and tells of Tien (played as an adult by Tony Jaa), the son of a murdered lord, who becomes a powerful warrior after a clan of outlaws adopt him and teach him their combat skills.This period setting allows for a far more epic feel than the first film, but the broader scope of the plot ultimately means less minutes devoted to pure, bone crunching action, a fact that has understandably disappointed those hoping for another relentless, adrenaline fuelled, juggernaut of a martial arts movie. Add the fact that Jaa's impressive Muay Thai skills are often overlooked in favour of weapons based action, and it's not surprising that this film hasn't been as overwhelmingly well received as its predecessor.On a more positive note, the film looks absolutely fantastic, with beautiful cinematography, sumptuous costumes, and some truly outlandish characters, and when the action does kick into top gear, it is utterly breath-taking, especially during the flawlessly executed, bone-crunching final battle between Tien and a host of enemy warriors, where we finally get to see the star delivering his trademark punishing blows with knee and elbow.In short, Ong Bak 2 is a very enjoyable slice of solid action entertainment—not quite as jaw-dropping as part one, but then what is?7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.

Aside from beautiful scenery and some cool fight scenes, this was pretty bad. Every stereotype is here: black and white heroes and villains, a paper-thin plot involving avenging a father's death (complete with corny flashbacks), and hilariously bad dubbing. Not only were the voice actors clearly white Americans living in the 21st century, they emphasized the wrong words and sounded like they were reading from a notecard. I could have done a much better job! But if it weren't for this unintentional source of comedy, I would have felt like I wasted my time. See it with you friends while having pizza and beer and are looking for muy-thai and ironic laughs.