Tony Jaa doesn’t smile, laugh or emote beyond a grimace in his breakout feature “Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior.”
He doesn’t have to.
Jaa, the latest martial arts sensation, announced his arrival as an action hero to be reckoned with in this grimly lit, wonderfully explosive actioner.
The film, getting its Blu-ray release this week, proves a bare-bones plot and stilted acting cannot slow Jaa down.
“Ong-Bak” is the name of a revered statue in the village where a peace-loving warrior named Ting (Jaa) lives.
The village’s tranquility is shattered when thieves lop off Ong-Bak’s head and whisk it into the hands of a Bangkok crime lord. It’s up to Ting to retrieve the severed head to make sure foul luck doesn’t befall the village.
It’s hardly the kind of motivation luring U.S. movie heroes into battle, but those rules don’t apply here.
Nor does gravity seem to affect Jaa when he’s ready to rumble. He dispatches one foe after another, his body soaring through space as if the laws of physics didn’t apply to his lithe frame.
The fight sequences are brutal but not over the top, poetic at times and unrelenting in their explosive energy.
Jaa’s astounding moves aren’t enhanced by CGI, wire work or other trickery. It makes each fight sequence even more remarkable.
In short, movie goers should consider themselves lucky to have Jaa in his prime to entertain us.
The camera is in awe of his theatrics, so much so that the film pauses several times to show his moves again.
The subsequent prequel, “Ong-bak: The Beginning,” offers an expanded budget, more sumptuous colors and a more cerebral story. “Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior” is still a must see for action fans.
The Blu-ray disk features a segment showcasing the moves of the Muay Thai brand of martial arts, footage from a French theater where Tony Jaa demonstrated his skills (“look, Ma, no wires!”) and a rap music video featuring Jaa.
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