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Tony Jaa: Bad Ass Extraordinaire By: Gavin Mooney Sorry I did not get out to see any movies this week so I have no solid advice about what to see. What I can tell you is based on preview hype alone I would definitely go see “Miss March” and you can expect a review on that later. “Witch Mountain” looks to be entertaining enough for the family so you got the kids or are stuck with younger siblings you check that one out. The Rock looks like he’ll be quite humorous in that role. Speaking of the Rock poor guy can’t seem to land any decent acting roles, but of course we can all see why. Personally I think he’s hilarious. Fortunately for him though Disney seems to be keeping that man gainfully employed with there modern remakes of every movie ever made. As for “The Last House on the Left” I wouldn’t even bother and I won’t. While in my search for what movies were coming out this week and something to write on I stumbled across, for me, a much anticipated sequel that unfortunately is not in theatres yet, but inspired me to take a look at one of my favorite up and coming martial art stars Tony Jaa. If you have not heard of this man yet I suggest you read my reviews and buy these movies. They will amaze and astound you and you’ll want to watch them over and over. The three following reviews are two of his movies already available for purchase and my much anticipated sequel. I hope you all will come to enjoy this man as much as I have. Ong Bak The Thai Warrior - This is Tony Jaa’s breakout lead role. In this movie Jaa plays a young martial artist living in a small rural village. This movie follows one of the classic Eastern story archetypes; someone has stolen the Buddha and it is up to Ting (Jaa) to retrieve it or his village will suffer a horrible fate and the hands of non-related circumstances, in this case a drought. This leads Ting to Bangkok where he walks around kickin’ ass and taking names with the classic useless sidekick Humlae played by Petchtai Wongkamlao who funny enough strikingly resembles Krillin from DBZ. All that aside this movie KICKS ASS!!! It starts off slow but picks up with awesome fight scenes. Jaa’s fighting style is amazing to watch and chorography is unlike anything you can see out there today. And to top it all off no wires, no camera tricks, no computer graphics, and no special effects. This guy did all of his own stunts and did awesome ones at that. When I saw this movie I was sold. Only complaint I really have is that one of the I guess you could say gags (not the right word but oh well) is that when Jaa performs an awesome stunt they replay the stunt several times immediately over and over to see just how awesome the stunt was. For a lot of the scenes its cool but as the movie moves along it ends up hiccupping the pace of the movie. Other than that I have no real complaints about this movie. If you are into martial arts films you’ve probably already seen this. If not, buy it TODAY!
The Protector - I know the poster has Quentin Tarantino’s name on it but don’t worry he has nothing to do with this movie other than he helped distribute it. This is Jaa’s second lead role in a wide release martial arts film. In this movie Jaa plays an Elephant herder and breeder in Thailand who also is versed in the ancient martial arts style learned by Elephant warriors in the past. Some dudes steal his bull and its calf and it is up to Kham (Jaa) to travel to Australia to save and retrieve it. He gets to Australia and goes around again kickin’ ass and taking names, he’s real good at that. Again awesome fighting scenes and choreography. Jaa and his stunt team really know how to entertain an audience and put together just the best fighting choreography I have seen in a long long time. Again no wires, no camera tricks, and no computer graphics, its just all Jaa. This movie has a bit faster pace than “Ong Bak” and is pumped full of action. I have yet to watch it again in preparation for this article but I pretty sure the annoying action replay I complained about in “Ong Bak” is not in this movie (I could be wrong though). Also in this movie there is a fight scene that is done in ONE TAKE! and runs like a video game almost as Jaa ascends three or four floors of a building just beatin’ fools left and right. One of the coolest fight sequences I have ever seen. Again this movie is a must have and everyone needs to go out and buy it today. If you love martial arts movie this is your bread and butter.
Ong Bak 2 - This is a prequel to the awesome “Ong Bak The Thai Warrior.” I really don’t know to much about this movie other than it’s about this kid whose village is slaughtered except for himself and he is so full of revenge that he learns the art of Muay Thai martial arts and the inner meaning of it and then goes and exacts his revenge. As you’ve seen from my Afro Samurai I’m all about the revenge plot line. I like to see well done stories about it. Only other thing I know about this movie is that Tony Jaa himself directs and stars in this movie. One thing I really like about Tony Jaa is that he is the modern day Bruce Lee in that he wishes to teach people and the world about Thai culture and rich history and martial arts history of Thailand through the art of movie story telling. As for a US release date…. I dunno. If you want to see the preview I suggest you check it out. Here is the link, enjoy!
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