Many a film has had it's fair share of problems but I doubt many films show that so obviously as ONG BAK 2. The comparison to the first is null and void as it is a completely different movie from ONG BAK. I suspect it only has the title so that western audiences will be interested in seeing the movie as the first was so successful. So what do we have? A period movie set many centuries before the first film and is focused around a very troubled time in Thai history where the country was at war with itself. Tony plays Teean, a young nobleman who is sent away by his father to be taught traditional dance at a school while he tries to fend off an opposing army who is attempting to take over his kingdom. Sadly all isn't as it should be and his parents are betrayed, killed and he is left to fend for himself. He is soon sold into slavery and when he does not cooperate with his captors he is thrown into a crocodile pit to fight for entertainment. Luckily though a band of pirates come to plunder and rescue him after witnessing his raw talent for survival. He is then taught many forms of martial arts by the pirates and displays a huge talent in different fighting styles including kung fu and weapons. I won't give too much away after that but what is clear is that as a first directorial debut Tony bit off way more than he could chew. Plot wise the film begins to go shaky at the 50 minute mark, opting instead to go nuts on fighting sequences rather than tie the plot down. It soon becomes apparent that while being so into the fighting Tony pushes the plot aside and the film becomes almost illegible to understand at points. The film then began to go grossly over budget causing the production company to put pressure on Tony to get it back in line and he soon cracked. It was reported in Thailand that Tony then decided, after almost destroying his friendship with choreographer and mentor Pannai, to disappear in the middle of production. Some of the rumours circulated were that he joined a monastery to practice black magic (doubtful) and that he had retreated to a cave to pray and meditate. He returned after a short while and made a tearful apology to the Thai public on TV vowing to finish what he had started. So what was the outcome? A sumptuous period film with fantastic cinematography and visuals but a serious lack of identity. The final third act is almost non existent, kidnapped by a massive over the top and spectacular action sequence. The film really needed to be wrapped up though and they managed to tack on an almost "to be continued" ending hoping to carry on the plot and hopefully drag back some credability that was lost in production. But I will say that this is a far cry from ong bak and tum yum goong, something I wasn't expecting and it's all the better for it. Tony wows with the mixed martial arts he trained so hard to perfect for the film. He pays homage to many of his heroes like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in some of the fight sequences including a drunken master set piece thats pretty brutal compared to Jackie's style. It lacks a lot of the acrobatics of his previous two outings but replaces them with intricate choreography and brutal weaponry. I was worried after tum yum goong that he may begin to run out of ideas and rely on previous success to sell the flick but he is clearly willing to step up to the plate and be far more ballsy than I gave him credit for. I wish they could have finished the movie properly or handed directing over to someone who had more experience because now we will have to wait for ONG BAK 3 (apparently its been agreed) to seek the real ending as I feel I cannot fairly review the film until then. But on the whole as long as you can forgive the shoddy plot just sit back and watch some real eye candy. The visuals and martial arts are better than any film that has come from Thailand already. I just hope this doesn't put people off of watching the third when it's released...
