Ong Bak 2 (2008)

Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

I've been disappointed by sequels, lately. Taken 3 is basically fast-editing with an older actor who just can't do the stunts anymore. Jason Bourne was the same thing. John Wick 2's fight scenes are just sad compared to the original; and, the sequel to Jack Reacher suffers the same thing. So, I turned on Ong Bak 2 expecting to turn it right back off... especially seeing the no-name production companies flit by on the screen.What I got was a martial arts movie CHOCK FULL of great martial arts. Stunts being done by the star of the film. Imagination, decent acting, a good but non-intrusive story and special effects that didn't seem cheap OR excessive.This is a good martial arts flick... right up there with the first Ong Bak or The Protector. Definitely worth a watch, then another one...

I had the premonition of disaster when I saw Tony Jaa's name in the list of scriptwriters and then my heart sank when he was also listed as one of the directors. Some random kingdom is expanding and killing people in Thailand, 600 odd years back. Jaa's family is massacred and he is adopted by a pirate gang who give him the mandatory weapons training so that he can go and f**k everybody's ass some day. This is as unintentionally hilarious as they come. The costumes, the set pieces, the acting, the story all fall into the category of "so bad that they are good". There are flashback scenes which show the family members of Jaa being knocked off. They are howlarious and you cannot stop laughing. There is the omnipresent gratuitous violence against women. In between Jaa also becomes a sort of Robinhood against human trafficking. Ong Bak was entertaining as it had the right dose of humor and action along with a straight story line. Here, there is only a "dark" tale of revenge which is so ineptly directed that it will cure the sleeping disorder of even the most hardened insomniacs. This is what is called Brand Dilution in marketing jargon. Ong Bak was a respectable product. They came up with this just to earn a few quick bucks. The ironical part is that they failed even in that. 1 out of 5 for this.

I'm new to Thai films, but I find some to be of high production value with excellent story. Ong Bak 2 fits this bill.I was intrigued to see this film because at first it seemed to be a period piece about certain point in Thai history. So I was eager to learn much about it. Then I came to understand that this is actually a martial arts film. This was my first exposure to Tony Jaa.I was impressed to say the least of all the action,the exciting story, and Jaa's screen presence. The movie is beautifully shot with new kind of exotic looks that's never been explored in western films.If this is the direction Thai films are taking, their future is bright, and I would like to see more movies of this kind to come from Thailand.

Well, I thought the movie was alright. The storyline wasn't that smart in my opinion, as it seemed pretty simple, and not deeply thought through. Also, sometimes when the music was played, it gave the movie a sense of simpleness too. Seemed kind of corny for a serious martial arts film. The acting was good and convincing I thought, but some of the lines were kind of obvious. During several scenes, the lines sounded as if the movie was meant to be intelligent and teach some deep meaningful message, however, it was simple explanations for tactics when fighting, and it was far too little. The only thing that kept me from rating this movie as significantly below-average was the fighting scenes. A couple of them were some of the best scenes that I've seen in over 100 Asian martial arts movies. And I thought there were many scenes that could have been deleted.