Tony Jaa no longer a monk

[Guest Yi-Long]

Ong Bak 2 is one of the best MA films of the last ten years or so. It's old school done modern.

Old skool usually made you feel for the main character, for his plight, and it would have built up the bad guy(s) as well, so the end-fight would really mean something.

That isn't really the case here. Sad thing is, that you can see that there IS a whole lot of potential in there, but they somehow managed to not really make the most of that potential.

As I mentioned before in some other thread: The best martial arts movies don't need much. They don't need special effects, or a big budget, or many different locations, or whatever. Just a simple story about a guy who gets beaten down by a bad guy, trains, gets better, and in the end gets his revenge. Ofcourse I exaggerate a bit, and you still need good casting, decent choreography and editing, it needs to look good and exciting, etc etc... but those are pretty much the basics you need, and if you get that right (which is hard enough as it is), then you're on the right track. Ong-Bak 2 seemed to go overboard with a bunch of stuff but you never REALLY cared about any of it...

At least, I didn't. Plus we all know what Tony CAN deliver, and TBH there just wasnt much in this movie, martial arts-wise, that really wowed me, like Ong-Bak and TYG did.

[HyperDrive]

He hooked up really quick after leaving monkhood. Almost too quick.

If he wants to show off the traditional art and keep a serious tone, then a setting in the past is best. Something set in the remote countryside works too. Otherwise, they should go back to what they did in the 80's/90's and work on a decent storyline.

[AndyWayne84]

I knew Tony would come back as much as i knew Bruce Wayne would return to being The Batman in the comic books this has made my day. Although im not shocked he got skinny since he hasn't been eating much it seems i wish him luck on his come back.

[daisho2004]

greenfan &Yakuza954: Thanks atleast you see the point I'm making, this movie was well done, had a very good storyline and excellent action what more do you Guys want?! I like this change of pace, I love period films without Guns! If he beat 5 Guys up with 9MM everyone would be saying that is such BS!

[BaronK]

I love the Tony Jaa double standards.

"I thought the storyline felt as if the writer was just making it up as he went."

Have you ever seen a HK flick before. 90 percent of them were/are "flying paper". You think Jack and Sammo had finished scripts?

"Also, Jaa's character was not likable at all. Look at him in Ong Bak. He seems like a real person, someone you can relate to, from a small town. (He essentially plays the same role again in TYG but I digress).

Does relating to a person matter? Does it matter if someone seems like a real person?

"He doesn't learn Muay Thai because he's a vengeful animal. He shows a sense of humor and a range of emotion."

That's why it's what we call, a different movie/role. He could just do like Jack and play the same guy for 30 years(Hell, he's the same in Shaolin). Where's the growth or change or difference, if you're playing the same guy, the same way your whole career?

What I love is that OB and OB2 are different in character, setting, choreography style, cinematography and budget/quality. OB and TYG were the same movie, with the same charcter, while TYG was a terrible movie. The difference being the expansion of the thai martial arts to include muay boran techniques, where OB was based more in mae mai.

"Jaa is out for revenge and acts angry for much of the duration and has next to no memorable lines."

Wow. Now that's some serious n-i-t-p-i-c-k-i-n-g.

Now as much as I'm replying to what you wrote, these tend to be almost universal complaints(minus the memorable lines part) from everyone that completely adored OB. They all want every Jaa movie to be as close to regurgitating OB as humanly possible. All that was different and good about what he did in/with OB2, they hate. They want him back in modern times. Don't try to grow as a performer or person. Don't direct. Keep it extra simple. More exchanges, less, this, and more that. Basically make OB over and over the same way(like Jack does) til I tire of you.

[Space]

Have you ever seen a HK flick before. 90 percent of them were/are "flying paper". You think Jack and Sammo had finished scripts?

As long as it doesn't feel like the writer is taking you on a wild goose chase. Besides, it didn't always work for Sammo either. Look at Millionaires Express. At about the 80-minute mark of the movie, I still wasn't sure what the plot was or were the movie was going. Similar situation for Winners and Sinners. They both felt like a long series of vignettes rather than a coherent movie.

Same for Jackie with Fearless Hyena and Young Master. As much as I love those two movies, the feeling that they didn't even have a script is palpable. When the first act lasts about an hour and then you have a quick, truncated second and third acts, it's easy to tell they were making it up as they shot it.

"Does relating to a person matter? Does it matter if someone seems like a real person?"

It does if you want your audience to care. Look at a movie like Wall-E. The main character is a mindless, heartless robot. You get the audience to care when you make him more human, give him some quirks and make us feel like we can relate to his plight.

Tony Jaa in OB2 is kind of like a mindless, heartless robot.

"That's why it's what we call, a different movie/role. He could just do like Jack and play the same guy for 30 years(Hell, he's the same in Shaolin). Where's the growth or change or difference, if you're playing the same guy, the same way your whole career?

What I love is that OB and OB2 are different in character, setting, choreography style, cinematography and budget/quality. OB and TYG were the same movie, with the same charcter, while TYG was a terrible movie. The difference being the expansion of the thai martial arts to include muay boran techniques, where OB was based more in mae mai."

Playing different characters is what I expect actors to do (otherwise you end up like Pacino or DeNiro). Generally though, for a character to be successful, he or she has a to have an arc in the movie where they learn something about themselves or the world. I don't think I can say that about OB2, but maybe I need to watch the third movie (ugh) to see the character's evolution.

"Now as much as I'm replying to what you wrote, these tend to be almost universal complaints(minus the memorable lines part) from everyone that completely adored OB. They all want every Jaa movie to be as close to regurgitating OB as humanly possible. All that was different and good about what he did in/with OB2, they hate. They want him back in modern times. Don't try to grow as a performer or person. Don't direct. Keep it extra simple. More exchanges, less, this, and more that. Basically make OB over and over the same way(like Jack does) til I tire of you."

Honestly, I'd like to see Jaa do some more comedy and play different but interesting characters. In OB2 he was a different but boring character, to the point that my roommate fell asleep (in the middle of the day) when I tried to show him the movie. Honestly when I think of great martial arts movie, the main character always has something interesting, noble or cool about them that makes the audience love them or want to be like them. Again...can't ever see myself saying that about OB2.

In any case, I'm not even that passionate about the movie. I was let down, that's it. I was more surprised to see it had fans. All martial arts actors make terrible, terrible movies sometimes, as long as they move on to better work.

[ShaOW!linDude]

(Space ---- if you didn't like OB2, you ain't gonna like OB3. It does continue the evolution of the character though but probably not in manner that will be satisfactory to you. I still think you should watch it but watch them together like one long movie would be my suggestion.)

OB2 is a vengeance movie pure and simply. I would agree that Jaa's character could've used more depth but que sera sera. Jaa displayed a knack for other MA styles and I found it to be a giant breath of fresh air. You just don't get to see stuff like that nowadays. It was a smorgasbord of styles and weaponry and I regularly go back to it. I love it. That's what I want more of.

So, he can do a modern setting or a period piece, I don't care. Give me a feasible plot or motivation and I'll more than meet him halfway. Just deliver me some elbow-smashing, knee-crunching, head-kicking, fist-bashing, bone-shattering, blood-splattering MA and I'm cool.

You feeling me?

[daisho2004]

ShaOW!linDude: You hit the Elbow on the Head with that statement!

[AndyWayne84]

ShaOW!linDude: You hit the Elbow on the Head with that statement!

That i agree you have.

[Guest 4EVAUGK]

More Tony Jaa Plz?

[loempiavreter]

Thank you. None of my friends or I found Ong-Bak 2 to be particularly memorable. All these big "epic" movies are starting to merge into one generic, cliched mess. And almost none of them have likable characters. Even when they did try to inject some humor and fun into the movie, it failed miserably.

Hopefully Jaa gets back to his roots.

While I do not prefer epic movies at all, I love the period setting... Im just not a fan of the modern day stuff.

[Tosh]

So I wonder if he has another movie coming soon? Hopefully it won't take him 3 years to make another one.

GD, I still haven't seen OB3, I do feel OB2 was very misunderstood, I know part 3 isn't suppose to be that good but I still want to see it, can't be any worse than these Chinese soap operas we're getting out of HK.

[Lionclaw]

So I wonder if he has another movie coming soon? Hopefully it won't take him 3 years to make another one.

GD, I still haven't seen OB3, I do feel OB2 was very misunderstood, I know part 3 isn't suppose to be that good but I still want to see it, can't be any worse than these Chinese soap operas we're getting out of HK.

Its okay for a first time watch but gets worse with each viewing. The finalle just doesn't pack the same punch that made Ong Bak 2 so awesome.

[slinky]

I think it was told like a myth or folklore kind of way, surreal. Just my opinion or the way i took it. I still enjoy watching all of them.

[AndyWayne84]

So I wonder if he has another movie coming soon? Hopefully it won't take him 3 years to make another one.

GD, I still haven't seen OB3, I do feel OB2 was very misunderstood, I know part 3 isn't suppose to be that good but I still want to see it, can't be any worse than these Chinese soap operas we're getting out of HK.

I bought both OB2 and OB3, on the day of my Birthday Jan 6. I agree OB2 is a misunderstood flim i enjoyed the action and the drama. As for OB3 let's just say i'm not whinning about getting my money back it was more decent than most movies out there nowdays i look foward for Tomy to make another Movie because he's needed now.

[ShaOW!linDude]

I found this article on Jaa. It's a couple of months old and some of you may have already seen/read it.

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2011/01/the-rise-and-fall-of-tony-jaa.php

It touches on a few things I was unaware of:

Jaa didn't think he needed Prachya Pinkaew after the success of his 1st 2 films and the studios backed him and turned him loose on OB2.

After his freak-out and absence, the studio took the film and turned it over to Panna Rittikrai for completion and opted to split it into 2 films to recoup their investment. (I thought Panna had been brought in at Jaa's request.)

http://twitchfilm.com/news/2010/05/ong-bak-star-tony-jaa-joins-the-monkhood.php

This article touches on Jaa's erratic behavior on the set (rumored instances of animal sacrifices and such) and that the studio even whisked him away on his return due to him still making high demands and desiring a release from his contract with them (which may be why he went to the monastery on completion --- to wait out the term of his contract).

I was snooping around hoping to find some fresh news but had no luck. I know he's out of the monastery now. Hope his head's screwed on straight and he's busying himself with developing a new project with Panna.