I had a chance to check this out at SXSW a couple of weeks ago.

If you like the first Ong Bak you'll love but be slightly disappointed by the prequel/Sequel.

The things you loved about the first one are mostly back, non stop action/fighting, in fact the last 30 minutes of the movie is one of the longest fighting sequences I've ever seen.

The film starts off set in the 15th century with a young boy (Teean) being rushed off to saftey for reasons that become clear later in the film. During the chase the boy is dropped off and told to run for his life and stay hidden by his gaurdian. As his protector rides off to his certain death Teean is left to fend for himself. It isn't long before he is picked up by a band of blood thirsty tribesmen who enslave the people of the land and force them to fight for their lives. Teenan even at this young age does not go quietly he try's to fight back but has no chance against these brutes as they toss him in a pit to fight to the death with a man eating creature. But their's someone in the crowd who sees something in him and decides to help him help himself. He takes him under his wing and he and his fellow pirates teach and train him. Once he is the top fighter in all skills he starts having visions of how he ended up at the place he is in life now and begins to take revenge against those that have hurt or killed his family from when he was a boy.

I will say that at least storywise this one tops the original Ong Bak, but this one is lacking any type of comedy relief, it's violent throughout. Don't expect many elbows and knees to the chest in this one either as I beleive Tony Jaa has decided that he wants to prove that he has mastered several martial arts types. Lots of different types of weapons with slicing and dicing aplenty make up for it.He also has decided to limit the grand stunts from the first one, but there is a great fight scene on top of live elephant. Those of you who complained about the multiple replays of great shots at different angles will be glad to hear that none of that is present in this film.

Lastly let me comment on the last thirty minutes of the film, it is the stuff of legend. I would put it ahead of Bruce Lee's final scenes in Big Boss and Enter the Dragon. He beats the crap out of no less than 50 soldiers and ninja's and then has to fight a couple of bad ass masters only to find out after all that he ain't done shit yet. It sets up nicely for a third sequel but probably not in the 15th century.

Thanks - good to know. I loved Ong Bak and just watched Chocolate which was awesome, but based on IMDB I was going to pass on OB2, but I'll give it a look now.

C+


Okay, the first Ong Bak was quite hollow as far as its plot is concerned, but it introduced Tony Jaa, Bruce Li's worthy successor, to international audiences and delivered some of the best martial arts scenes in years.

This follow-up....not so good. For one, it just places the story into the 15th century and still calls itself a sequel for whatever reason. For another...up until the final thirty minutes or so, there's barely any good action. Now towards the end it really kicks off and delivers some astounding martial arts scenes again. Jaa rules...but it is simply not enough to make up for the rather dull first hour. And then that pretty retarded ending...

Yeah, I did not like the fact that this appropo of nothing just switched centuries and called itself a sequel just because it's Ja. I think that is not too uncommon in Asian film, based on the American ports of martial arts films I've seen anyway. Part 3 appears to be a continuation of 2.

Seeing my old post reminds me I need to see Chocolate again!