In Ong-bak, monk-in-training Ting volunteers to go to the city to hunt down the mobster who stole the head of their sacred statue. He falls in with a couple of swindlers and winds up in a whole bunch of fights. The fights are brutally entertaining, full of leaps and kicks and elbow jabs. Star Tony Jaa is athletically acrobatic, something shown off to greatest effect not in a fight but in a long chase sequence in which Ting does things like leap over cars (in splits position). The action is terrific, but not much else is. It's a little hard to judge things like acting and dialogue when watching a foreign movie, but most of the acting seemed pretty bad (especially the early scenes in the village) and the subtitled dialogue was pretty stupid.Jaa himself has solid screen presence, and Petchtai Wongkamlao is amusing as one of the swindlers, but take out the action sequences are you have a really bad half hour. The story isn't even neutral; it is actually worse than if they'd had no story at all, because it relies on criminals so spiteful that they do things that lead to their ruin (a smart criminal could have ended the whole sage in five peaceful minutes), and because the ending is a bummer.But if you want to see a bunch of martial arts, definitely check this one out.

Ong-Bak is a sacred Buddha statute. Don is a dealer from Bangkok who steals the head. Ting (Tony Jaa) volunteers to bring back the idol for the desperate village. In the city, he finds George who keeps denying to be Humlae the son of a villager. George steals all of Ting's money from the villagers to bet on fights. Ting accidentally gets into an underground fight and takes down the champion. When George gets in trouble with thugs, he and Muay Lek are beaten up and are rescued by Ting. When they go back to the fight club, Ting is forced to fight against three consecutive opponents. In the end, he wins all the fights, wins the affections of the crowd, and finds Don who works for the evil Komtuan.There is a chase in the street about 30 minutes in. It is amazing. It is fun. It is hilarious. There are a lot of good hard fights. The story really serves to highlight the action and there is a lot of it. One thing is certain. Tony Jaa is an amazing acrobatic fighter.

First of i wan't to say that Ong-Bak had some very good fight scenes, and great action written all over it. But i found the story to be a bit boring and there was not much to hang on to or however i should put it, you don't feel much compassion for him is what i mean. For instance in "Ip man", we learnt to have great respect for Donnie Yen, he didn't wan't to fight but has to do it in order to protect his family and fellow man, that is in my opinion the perfect blend. However in this movie Tony Jaa is told right at the start: "Now that you have learnt all these fancy Martial arts moves, you must never use it!" and he of course says yes, just like in one of Bruce Lee's earlier movies when he swears to his master not to fight, just in self-defence. So Tony (or Ting) as he's called in the movie, goes against his father's wish the first chance he gets and beats the living crap out of everyone.But if that's all you're looking for, then i'd say this is the movie for you, and also keep in mind this is his first exhibition film, so in that sense it's alright. Just don't expect any deep scenes or over- meaningful dialog.

A young country man travels to Bangkok to recover the stolen stone head of Ong-Bak, the Buddha statue of his village. Though he is an incredibly skilled Muay Thai fighter, his master asks him not to use his dangerous skills, in an effort to keep him from accidentally killing someone and being forced to live the rest of his life in regret. Circumstances and the corrupt people of the city force him into situations where he must fight, though, and he's willing to do anything to bring the stone head back to his village, which is cursed by its absence. The fight sequences in Ong-Bak are so fun that they completely make up for the fact that the rest of the movie is fairly dull. That won't matter at all, though, as you're watch Tony Jaa deliver endless flying elbows and kicks, while pulling of some absolutely insane stunt and fight choreography. Sit back, relax, and grin while you watch him literally kick the dust off people's heads.