Ong Bak

Devastating Elbows & Knees, awesome!

After hearing so many rave reviews about this movie I will admit to being a little disappointed. Yes, the fighting and tricks, agility in general, was amazing, but the rest of the movie wasn't. The plot was so-so, parts of it were super cheesy and some of it seemed so random. Then I read up on the history and it all made more sense. This was a Thai movie not aimed for international review. It was the first movie they'd ever done, they paid for it themselves and made it themselves. The fighting was impressive enough that an international company bought the rights to release it internationally and edited put some of the plot points that would have made certain points make more sense. So, if it feels cheesy and amateur, it's because it was made by amateurs, amateurs with amazing fighting skills who got a huge break and made it big. And props to them.

It was fun in the beginning, but I did felt a bit bored towards the end. Too much of the same

Basically the movie is about people being beaten up by Muay Thai.

So-so plot and decent cinematography. The story only accompanies the action and the shot does need more work in here and there, especially in action scenes. There seems to be unintentional comedy from the way the plot and cinematography is directed. However the choreography is excellent and Tony Jaa's performance is astounding. Though along the movie the only decent opponent is the boss' right hand man (others are merely cannon fodder).

The fights and ... running choreography ... were incredible. Muay Thai is such a unique and impactful martial arts discipline. I liked the old school style with flour to emphasise the impact and with repetition of especially hard moves from different angles.
The rest was actually rather distracting and did not really offer anything worth watching.