Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Tony Jaa stars and directs in this martial flick that takes you to 15th century  Thailand and the beginning of only God know what. The story is built around Tien (Tony Jaa), a prince who is brought up by outlaws under dubious circumstances who then proceeds to kick a lot of ass after years of outlaw martial art tutelage. But unlike Ong Bak, Jaa goes out of the way to create a plot to fit his mind boggling stunts. The results is  a storyline that is shoe horned in that slides off like mud on a sweaty fighter. Jaa should focus on the ass kicking and leave the rest to someone else.

Rating: *

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

Ong-Bak, an ancient statue of Buddha is stolen from the village Nong Pradu. The villagers dispatch Muay Thai exponent Ting (Tony Jaa) to retrieve it from Bangkok. Predictably he starts to kick some serious ass, literary with no strings attached. Please be aware that if you sit through this spectacle, you will find it hard to appreciate any other martial art flick forever.

Rating: * * * +
PS: Rated purely for the quality of action.