Hey folks, Harry here... Ready for an adrenaline rush of pure unadulterated ass-kicking desire to see a movie? Ready to hear about the spreading of the Panom Yeerum virus? How it now owns Toronto? How after reading the following 3 reviews... it will own you? Soon you will seek out this film... seek it out and possess it by any and all means... How you won't be able to sleep till you see it, because the dream of a film with no wire work that kicks the living shit out of you as you watch it courses through your lobes firing fevered desires... Well... get ready...
Harry,
Just got back from the Toronto Film Fest Midnight Madness screening of Ong Bak, which is now dubbed Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior for its western audiences who might not know what the hell an Ong Bak is. Its director, Prachya Pinkaew was present for the screening and said a few words (mostly through a translator) before the show. I'm sorry to say I didn't stick around for the post film Q&A (it was 2:30 AM by that time and the wife worries, you know), but hopefully someone else will fill you in on that part if anything of note was said. I'm here to tell you about the movie itself.
I had extremely high expectations for this flick, being a lifelong martial arts fan. I'm old enough to have seen the Bruce Lee movies in their original release and I've seen just about every Hong Kong martial arts movie of note. It takes a lot to impress me in terms of martial arts athleticism and choreograpy. My attitude is: show me what you got! Ong Bak not only met my expectations, it kicked my ass, blew me out of my seat, propped me up against the back wall of the theatre, and roughed me up a bit for good measure.
How do I describe the ability of Panom Yeerum, who plays the lead, Ting. How about: imagine splicing the DNA of Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Yuen Biao and then incubating the result in a big ol' vat of super-soldier serum? Yeerum does things in this movie that you swear could only have been achieved with CGI or wires, only it wasn't done that way. He can do this shit FOR REAL. He can do leaping spinning kicks in any axis, the likes of which I've never seen. He can contort and twist his body with lightning speed in the middle of a fight, suddenly delivering an elbow or knee to his opponent from an angle you wouldn't have thought possible. There's a chase scene which involves nothing more than him running down a city street leaping over every obstacle in his path, but it's an absolute showstopper.
The plot is pretty simple, involving Ting's journey from his small rural village in Thailand to the big, bad city of Bangkok to return a stolen Buddha statue's head (the titular Ong Bak). But the story is simple, as opposed to stupid (a lesson Hollywood needs to learn). There's a decent amount of humour mixed in with the mayhem, the characters are likeable, and the whole enterprise doesn't take itself too seriously. The movie is played straight when it needs to be, but it's not afraid to go over-the-top in the name of a good time. There's a hilarious protracted sequence in the middle where Ting fights 3 fearsome opponents in succession in a bar. The first is a huge white guy who relies on brute force, named Big Bear. The second is a super-fast Asian martial artist. And the third is a guy who fights dirty, using every object or piece of furniture in the joint!
The cinematography, editing and camerawork were much better than I expected. Not being familiar with Thai cinema, I walked in to the theatre ready to cut it some slack in these areas, but I needn't have worried. This movie looks better than most of Jet Li's western movies, with the possible exception of Kiss of the Dragon. And for all you fight fans, the answer to the most important question: the fights are all shot from a medium distance, with the combatants visible from head to toe, with a minimum of cutting.
I have only one question: where does Panom Yeerum go from here? The debut films of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan and Jet Li were not cinematic masterpieces. They were notable mostly for the POTENTIAL displayed by the leads. It took several more films for them to reach their zenith. Ong Bak is so well done, and Yeerum goes so all out, performing feat after feat which seemingly defies physics and gravity, that I don't for the life of me know HOW this thing can be topped! Well, I guess we'll have to wait for Ong Bak 2 for the answer.
Call me Itto
This next review is from a fight choreographer that lost his shit over the film...
ONG BAK REVIEW FROM THE TORONTO FILM FEST SCREENING
Dear AICN,
My name is Paul Nguyen from Toronto, Canada. I am a student filmmaker and avid fight performer and choreographer. This is my first contribution to AICN, so pardon my lackluster writing skills and fragmented delivery.
Anyway, I just got home from a midnight screening of ONG BAK: Muay Thai Warrior at the Toronto International Film Festival. As a filmmaker and martial artist (I have a blackbelt in TKD) I was already pumped up to see this film and I was already uneasy because I walked in with such high expections. I can safely say that this movie is the REAL DEAL. ONG BAK sports some pretty standard plotting and filmmaking style and thank god for that! There is absolutely NO HK-style rip-offs, like choppy slow-motion or noticeable CGI-effects.
I am only going to review the action sequences here, since you can find reviews/synopsis's elsewhere.
As for fight choreography, ONG BAK has introduced the world to a new action hero- Panom Yeerum (English name is Tony Ja). Panom Yeerum exhibits incredible athleticism and martial art skill and power. He makes a very intimadating and imposing impression, reminiscent of Charles Bronson (RIP) in HARD TIMES. Panom Yeerum performs many feats of spinning kicks and reversals. He is a combination of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. He has power, agility and fighting charisma that remind us of dear old Bruce Lee.
The one-on-one fights and the one-on-many fights are hardcore. Each time Panom Yeerum throws a hit and makes contact, you can feel it and hear it loudly. The bone-crunching sound-effects are uncomfortably exciting and each time he smashes his elbow onto an opponent's head, the audience would cheer. The fighting was realistic and harkens back to the heydays of Bruce Lee's intricately staged fights. No longer present are the wacky wirework or silly moves that American movies would make Jet Li or Jackie Chan do (ie Romeo Must Die / The Tuxedo).
The fighting style and choreography is incredibly realistic and unique. All the strikes and exchanges looked real and had a great tactile quality to them. Panom Yeerum uses muay thai against other fighters who use free-style fighting, taekwondo, and even a crazed brawler who uses chairs, tables and knives. And, of course, Panom Yeerum has a final showdown with a drugged pumped muay thai adversary.
As the director put it, this movie is about two things: 1. Thailand and 2. Muay Thai
In attendance was director Prachya Pinkaew, who answered a short Q/A after the screening. I'll just recant he said here.
- First off, the budget of the film was around one million dollars (in USD not Baht).
- The chase sequence where Panom Yeerum is running and jumping over objects took only ten days to shoot because of the constant raining.
- Panom Yeerum is 25 years old, starred in a popular TV series, so this is his film debut.
- There were no major accidents to any stuntmen, but Panom Yeerum injured his legs a bit.
- The bad guy at the end of the movie trained Panom Yeerum and also serves as the fight choreographer. He was a kung-fu trained martial artist and is a veteran stunt player in the Thailand film industry.
- The fight choreography was created by him and the director (combing the director's muay thai influences.
- There is two instances of CGI, one of them being the coins that were tossed in the air after the club fight and the blood splatter of some guy's head after getting elbow-smashed by Panom Yeerum. These effects were slightly noticeable, but TOTALLY appropriate. The tuk-tuk (motorbike) chase sequence has some wirework done but that is all.
Go see this movie. It is already out on VCD (no English subs) but it has been picked up by LUC BESSON (he bought the worldwide distribution rights), who is also producing Prachya Pinkaew's next movie. Is there a sequel? Not really, but Panom Yeerum is starring in a new film with the same crew and producers. I also got a chance to get the director's business card and number, so hopefully you'll see my head getting cracked open by Panom Yeerum! Thanks and go see this movie. Visit my website www.pvefilms.com to see my own home-brewed fight movies.
PAUL NGUYEN
PVE Motion Pictures
Toronto, Canada
PVEfilms
Here's a review that's... mildly positive... heh...
Hey, Harry. I figured you might want a another report from the Toronto International Film Festival 2003. Yesterday, my friends and I were deeply and greatly satisfied with Takeshi 'Beat' Kitano's ZATOICHI; a film laced with deft intensity that is the samuria way. With ZATOICHI still poised at the tips of our tongues over dinner, a few drinks and even during the gala premiere of The Human Stain, we later entered the Uptown Theatre at 00:20 Sunday morning to watch a small-budget film from Thailand. We heard nothing about this film; we didn't do any research; we went in blind. That film is ONG-BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR.
Harry, an audience of seven hundred people have spoken. We speak, now, with one voice. And that one voice THUNDERS across Toronto and around the world ... ONG-BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR totally, absolutely and forever ***KICKS THE FUCKING SHIT*** out of every other martial arts film!!!
The star of the film is PANOM YEERUM who now FUCKING "OWNS" the category of best martial artist in film today. PANOM YEERUM surpasses Jackie Chan, Jet Li and Donnie Yen in every and all ways in terms of athletic and acrobatic ability. PANOM YEERUM has a screen presence to dominate the global market of martial arts cinema. PANOM YEERUM is the name you will know, PANOM YEERUM is the name all will know.
Oh, what's the plot of the film, you ask? Quite simply: When the head of Ong-Bak, the sacred Buddha of a poor village, is stolen, a local villager named Ting (portrayed by the aforementioned PANOM YEERUM) is given the task to retrieve the relic which was taken to Bangkok.
Harry, the entire audience LOVED the film!!!. The explosions of laughter; the fits of joyous cheer; the roar of applause; THE WILD 90-SECOND STANDING OVATION for director PRACHYA PINKAEW at the closing of the film!!! And, the fight scenes? OH MY GOD!!! Prime examples of brutal, bloody and bone-jarring excellence!!! Muay Thai boxing, HELL YEAH!!!
When the movie was over, director PRACHYA PINKAEW (with the help of a Thai/English translator) held an informal Q/A session, fielding questions from the audience. Here are a few bits of factual info about ONG-BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR
- no CG elements
- no wires during the muay thai boxing sequences
- Luc Besson has the worldwide rights to the film, no distributor yet
- Luc Besson is producing Prachya Pinkaew's next film
- the screening at the Toronto International Film Festival was the first wide showing of the uncut, international version outside of Thailand
- the sequel has already been shot and was filmed in Australia
- watch closely during the chase through the market and notice the names Steven Speilberg and Luc Besson scrawled on a wall.
- the film cost one (1) million dollars Canadian.
- 'Ong-Bak Muay Thai Warrior' is Panom Yeerum's first film in a starring role.
- Panom Yeerum was a stunt double in some previous films
- Panom Yeerum lists Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan as sources of influence
- Panom Yeerum is proficient in many styles including Muay Thai Boxing and Tae Kwon Do
- Panom Yeerum could not attend the Festival because he's training for his third film
- Panom Yeerum is sometimes credited at 'Tony Cha'
- region 1 DVD of 'Ong-Bak Muay Thai Warrior' is not available (yet).
I kindly asked Prachya Pinkaew to pose for a photograph. Here is the link off my personal site: Prachya Pinkaew
The world of martial arts cinema has been greatly bleesed, Harry. And that divine blessing comes in the form of ONG-BAK MUAY THAI WARRIOR.
