Review of Ong Bak 3 (2010) by Damien A — 06 Jan 2011

Since the chances of Tony Jaa making another movie any time soon - if ever again - is virtually zero, it's a crying shame that he's signed off on such a sour note. Ong Bak 3 continues where Ong Bak: The Beginning left off but takes the story in a direction that feels out of place, with Dan Chupong's "Crow Ghost", who fought against Jaa in the previous film - for some reason - taking over from Sarunyu Wongkrachang's Lord Rajasena as the main antagonist after he kills him and takes his throne - for some reason.

Of course that cheats Jaa out of a final confrontation with the man who had his family murdered, but never mind, that little factoid is the least of the film's problems. With the "wow factor" of the last film's high production values (sets, costumes etc) long gone and the relatively few fight scenes lacking variety, what we're left with is a dull plot full of over the top magic and mysticism, violence that often goes too far (even if the digital blood is more than a little unconvincing), a love subplot that never gets off the ground (probably for the best to be honest), plenty of WTF moments (the talking head) and an ending that is essentially one long deus ex machina.

To be fair to the film the fight sequences, despite being unoriginal, are still well choreographed and hard-hitting and we do get to see Jaa with that beard we glimpsed at the end of part 2, but this is without a doubt the low point of Jaa's career, and since it's likely to be his swan song, that's just sad.