Ong-Bak 3 (Thai: องค์บาก 3) is a 2010 Thai martial arts film directed, produced and written by Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai. The film's story is a follow-up Ong Bak 2, where Tien (Tony Jaa) is brutally beaten before being put to death by Lord Rajasena (Sarunyu Wongkrajang)'s men. His body is recovered by his Master Bua (Nirutti Sirijanya) who revives him. When Tien returns to his village, he finds it taken over by Bhuti Sangkha (Dan Chupong).
The film has received generally negative reviews. Both Empire and Film Business Asia and praised the action scenes but pointed out the weak story. Film Business Asia gave the film a five out of ten rating praising the action sequences but finding that it made Ong Bak 2 look like a masterpiece of character development. [2] Variety and Total Film found the film spent too much focus on Buddhist philosophy that left not enough time for the action scenes.[8] Total Film awarded the film two stars out of five, stating that a greater focus on Buddhist philosophy...leaves little room for the sort of bone-crunching, no-frills set-pieces that first brought Jaa to our attention. [9] Slant Magazine gave the film three stars out of four praising it as easily the most brutal of all the contemporary Thai martial arts films that have come to the U.S. thus far. But that's what characterizes the Thai style of fighting films: inspired excess and decadence. [10]
The current film, promised to be the final installment in a trilogy, also has plenty of elephant fu, or, to use the name Mr. Jaa invented for his new art form, muay kotchasarn (Thai for elephant boxing). But nothing has the sheer joy in movement of that running leap and back flip, and thatprs"s indicative of the whole problem with Mr. Jaaors"s career path: as his budgets have gone up, his inventiveness and sense of humor have plunged. The unrelentingly brutal dld"Ong Bak 2 rd" was a drag after the screwball charm and breathtaking stunts of old"Ong Bak,ard" and the third installment continues the trend.
rld"Ong Bak 3,srd" which picks up the largely incoherent story of the rebel prince Tien battling evil lords and demons in some mythical pocket of Thai history, is actually less bloody than its predecessor. This is because of a long middle section in which a battered Tien goes through a kind of karmic Buddhist spa cure that involves encasing his comatose body in mud. Unfortunately, Mr. Jaa vmdash; who wrote and directed the film with Panna Rittikrai amdash; has no strengths as an actor or director except for the staging and execution of elaborate fight scenes. Itdrs"s always fun to watch him spinning through the air and bouncing off elephants, but everything else about the movie will have you wishing it were your turn for reincarnation.
