When the head of a statue sacred to a village is stolen, a young martial artist goes to the big city and finds himself taking on the underworld to retrieve it.
The artifice-free antidote to such F/X enervation -- a jaw-dropper of a star-making display from lithe fighter-artist Tony Jaa, framed by a plot as bare-bones as a backroom boxing ring.
– Lisa Schwarzbaum,
Entertainment Weekly,
16 Feb 2005
fresh:
What Jaa does is often mesmerizing.
– Bob Longino,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
17 Feb 2005
fresh:
No prizes will be awarded to anyone who guesses that Ting beats all assailants and recovers the artifact. What you might not anticipate is how viscerally exciting director Prachya Pinkaew makes the action scenes.
– Colin Covert,
Minneapolis Star Tribune,
3 Mar 2005
rotten:
Jaa's moves are impressive, but the choreography ranges from bland to ridiculous (as when one dirty fighter resorts to using major appliances as weapons).
– Kerry Lengel,
Arizona Republic,
3 Mar 2005
rotten:
Ong Bak is not very good -- but Hollywood suits would be nuts not to give Jaa a role in every action flick they make from now on.