By Albert Valentin | Published March 1, 2011
With the troubles that surrounded him making the sequel to his biggest film, Tony Jaa ultimately suffers in this final installment to the ONG BAK saga. With new footage involving Dan Chupong reprising his role from ONG BAK 2 (2008), it almost becomes a good attempt, but suffers more with technical issues and a villain’s plot line that borders on the ridiculous.
Beginning directly after ONG BAK 2, after learning the truth about his family’s death and attempting to confront the king (Sarunyu Wongkrachang) responsible, Tien (Tony Jaa) is captured and sent to prison. There, he is forced to undergo a series of punishments that result in the lost of use on his bones. When he is rescued by a band of revolutionaries, he is taken to his former master, Master Bua (Nirut Sirijunya) . He also meets his one time childhood love, Pim (Primorata Dejudom), for the first time in many years.
As Tien begins the road to healing and recovery, the king finds himself in a bind. Mysteriously summoned to a castle in a secluded area, he finds an assassin he once hired, the Crow Ghost (Dan Chupong). Since Tien’s imprisonment, the Crow’s power has grown and he now wants to use his power to overthrow the king for his own purposes. When the Crow kills the King, he now becomes the new man in power.
Meanwhile, Tien has fully healed. However, in order to begin his road of redemption and vengeance, he must not only master the martial arts he studied as a child, but finally embrace the movements of “khon”, the art of dancing. When the Crow’s new subordinate arrive to capture Tien, the young fighter defeats them all with his newfound skills. However, the battle comes at a price. With the village ravaged and his true love kidnapped, Tien now must face his old nemesis in a final fight to the death and face his destiny as the chosen warrior.
Tony Jaa made a name for himself in the 2003 modern day action film ONG-BAK, which is more known for its breathtaking stunts rather than its simplistic storyline. In ONG-BAK 2, Jaa took the director’s seat and attempted at a more period piece that would somehow relate to the original film. Everyone by now have heard of the problems that plagued the production, resulting in Jaa living in seclusion for two months. He finally finished the film with his mentor, Panna Rittikrai, assisting him.
ONG-BAK 2 showed a bit of what Jaa could do both as an actor and a martial artist. In the five years between the first and second films, Jaa made a few cameos in other films and perhaps worked with an acting coach to improve on his dramatic side. The formula in terms of acting works here with ONG-BAK 3, which picks up where ONG-BAK 2 leaves off. Here, Jaa’s character of Tien is broken and battered for the entire first half of the film as he attempts to recover and heal. Jaa’s strength here is in his acting rather than his trademark skills as a martial artist.
So why were many fans ultimately disappointed in ONG-BAK 3? The answer may come in the form of the revived Crow Ghost, now known as Bhuti Sangkha. The character was created after the problems with production were resolved and he comes in the form of Dan Chupong, who made a name for himself first as a member of Rittikrai’s stunt team, then marking himself a bankable lead with BORN TO FIGHT (2004). While Chupong makes for a good villain, the fact he comes from a more supernatural presence in this film is perhaps more seen as a turn off. When he appeared in ONG-BAK 2, he was a nasty looking fighter dressed like a crow but was able to fight. Had they taken away the whole supernatural element and kept it to a more subtle powerful assassin wanting the throne himself, it would have made the film better.
The other flaw in the film comes in the form of some of the fights using way too much slow motion. Fans had mixed reactions with the Japanese film HIGH KICK GIRL! (2009). Most agreed it was the overdose of slow motion that turned fans off and Jaa uses the same method here. A lot of the finale, in which Tien finally unleashes his hybrid style of martial arts and khon dancing, is done in slow motion and it tends to get tiring after a while. It doesn’t take away his skills as a filmmaker much, but ultimately becomes a disappointment.
ONG BAK 3 is a film where the fans themselves ultimately rate the film. While Jaa attempts to work well in terms of his acting, he tried too hard to make a success out of the sequel to his 2003 film. When one tries too hard, they risk failing and Jaa sadly ends up failing. Let’s hope he has learned from his mistakes and should he decide to return to films, come out with something on the level of the original ONG BAK.
As Tien begins the road to healing and recovery, the king finds himself in a bind. Mysteriously summoned to a castle in a secluded area, he finds an assassin he once hired, the Crow Ghost (Dan Chupong). Since Tien’s imprisonment, the Crow’s power has grown and he now wants to use his power to overthrow the king for his own purposes. When the Crow kills the King, he now becomes the new man in power.
Meanwhile, Tien has fully healed. However, in order to begin his road of redemption and vengeance, he must not only master the martial arts he studied as a child, but finally embrace the movements of “khon”, the art of dancing. When the Crow’s new subordinate arrive to capture Tien, the young fighter defeats them all with his newfound skills. However, the battle comes at a price. With the village ravaged and his true love kidnapped, Tien now must face his old nemesis in a final fight to the death and face his destiny as the chosen warrior.
Tony Jaa made a name for himself in the 2003 modern day action film ONG-BAK, which is more known for its breathtaking stunts rather than its simplistic storyline. In ONG-BAK 2, Jaa took the director’s seat and attempted at a more period piece that would somehow relate to the original film. Everyone by now have heard of the problems that plagued the production, resulting in Jaa living in seclusion for two months. He finally finished the film with his mentor, Panna Rittikrai, assisting him.
ONG-BAK 2 showed a bit of what Jaa could do both as an actor and a martial artist. In the five years between the first and second films, Jaa made a few cameos in other films and perhaps worked with an acting coach to improve on his dramatic side. The formula in terms of acting works here with ONG-BAK 3, which picks up where ONG-BAK 2 leaves off. Here, Jaa’s character of Tien is broken and battered for the entire first half of the film as he attempts to recover and heal. Jaa’s strength here is in his acting rather than his trademark skills as a martial artist.
So why were many fans ultimately disappointed in ONG-BAK 3? The answer may come in the form of the revived Crow Ghost, now known as Bhuti Sangkha. The character was created after the problems with production were resolved and he comes in the form of Dan Chupong, who made a name for himself first as a member of Rittikrai’s stunt team, then marking himself a bankable lead with BORN TO FIGHT (2004). While Chupong makes for a good villain, the fact he comes from a more supernatural presence in this film is perhaps more seen as a turn off. When he appeared in ONG-BAK 2, he was a nasty looking fighter dressed like a crow but was able to fight. Had they taken away the whole supernatural element and kept it to a more subtle powerful assassin wanting the throne himself, it would have made the film better.
The other flaw in the film comes in the form of some of the fights using way too much slow motion. Fans had mixed reactions with the Japanese film HIGH KICK GIRL! (2009). Most agreed it was the overdose of slow motion that turned fans off and Jaa uses the same method here. A lot of the finale, in which Tien finally unleashes his hybrid style of martial arts and khon dancing, is done in slow motion and it tends to get tiring after a while. It doesn’t take away his skills as a filmmaker much, but ultimately becomes a disappointment.
ONG BAK 3 is a film where the fans themselves ultimately rate the film. While Jaa attempts to work well in terms of his acting, he tried too hard to make a success out of the sequel to his 2003 film. When one tries too hard, they risk failing and Jaa sadly ends up failing. Let’s hope he has learned from his mistakes and should he decide to return to films, come out with something on the level of the original ONG BAK.
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