DVD Voice

As promised, tonight I took the time to watch the sequel to Ong-Bak, Ong-Bak 2: The Beginning. I really enjoyed Ong-Bak last night and was expecting more of the same. I got it. Wow… as much martial arts as you could handle.

But, somehow it didn’t feel as satisfying as the first one. The first one was really out of nowhere, I wasn’t expecting it to be as hard hitting and good. This one, probably was on par, but just didn’t quite ring that same bell!

Since it’s called “The Beginning,” that should tip you off that it happens before Ong-Bak. Tien, Tony Jaa (who also directed), is the son of a nobleman who is orphaned and taken in by the King of the Outlaws. He is trained in all sorts of fighting styles and weaponry. Later in life he seeks revenge. He seems rather intent on killing everyone, and the last 30 minutes of the film is basically a big fight.

I’m not saying the action is good, it is, it’s just that I believe I enjoy a good martial arts movie, but I don’t truly appreciate the intricacies of it enough. Or maybe it’s that I shouldn’t do martial arts two nights in a row?

Oh, the DVD has trailers for John Woo’s Red Cliff and The Warlords. Both look good and I think I’ll have to try them sometime soon. And there was some video of Ong-Bak 3, which from the little bits looked like it may be more interesting, to me, that this one.

Rated R. 115 minutes (1 hour 55 minutes). Violence. Let me repeat that, Violence.