There's no two ways about it: ONG BAK 3 is a mess of a film and one, I hate to say, that never should have been made. The previous entry in this historical twosome (the first ONG BAK was a low budget martial arts flick set on the streets of modern-day Bangkok) was a bit of a mixed bag of a film that I enjoyed for the most part. In comparison to this, ONG BAK: THE BEGINNING is a masterpiece of cinema. If only they'd had Jaa kill the main bad guy at the end of that film and spare us this unwanted final entry in the series, which is also, according to some, Jaa's swansong following his decision to retire from the industry and become a monk.
The film's plot is all over the place. Jaa starts the film captured, tortured and left for dead. Long stretches of over-stylised posturing follow before – surprise, surprise – Jaa is 'reborn' and comes back fresher and stronger than before to battle the enemy again. By this time, the second film's villain has been bumped off by Dan Chupong's villainous "Crow" character, who should have stayed a bird-man rather than undergoing the nonsense we see his character involved in here.
It all ends with a large-scale spectacle involving mucho weaponry, spear-play and elephants, but then silly twists are played out (one extended fight scene turns out to be purely imaginary) and the climatic one-on-one bout is a crushing disappointment. It's obvious that the filmmakers went too far in their attempts at creating a historical epic, whereas they should have stuck to the gritty, on-the-street vibe that made both the original ONG BAK and WARRIOR KING such smashing films. Sure, there are a handful of decent fight sequences in this one, all with the usual exemplary choreography, but the rest of the movie is a chore to sit through. This a film guaranteed to test the patience of even the most forgiving martial arts fan.
The film's plot is all over the place. Jaa starts the film captured, tortured and left for dead. Long stretches of over-stylised posturing follow before – surprise, surprise – Jaa is 'reborn' and comes back fresher and stronger than before to battle the enemy again. By this time, the second film's villain has been bumped off by Dan Chupong's villainous "Crow" character, who should have stayed a bird-man rather than undergoing the nonsense we see his character involved in here.
It all ends with a large-scale spectacle involving mucho weaponry, spear-play and elephants, but then silly twists are played out (one extended fight scene turns out to be purely imaginary) and the climatic one-on-one bout is a crushing disappointment. It's obvious that the filmmakers went too far in their attempts at creating a historical epic, whereas they should have stuck to the gritty, on-the-street vibe that made both the original ONG BAK and WARRIOR KING such smashing films. Sure, there are a handful of decent fight sequences in this one, all with the usual exemplary choreography, but the rest of the movie is a chore to sit through. This a film guaranteed to test the patience of even the most forgiving martial arts fan.