Ong Bak 3 | DVD Review

“Tony Jaa is back to end it all!” is the tagline on the DVD cover of Ong Bak 3, out now from E1. Fans of the first two installments in the series were no doubt excited at that prospect, but notice that it doesn’t mention exactly how Jaa ends it all. Does our hero – and presumably the series – go out with a bang or a whimper?

Ong Bak 3 picks up right where Ong Bak 2 left off, with Tien (Tony Jaa) having been captured by Lord Rajasena (Sarunyu Wongkrajang, 13 Beloved) and subsequently killed while trying to escape. While Tien’s body is found by the lovely Pim (Primrata Det-Udom, reprising her role from the previous installment) and he’s brought back to life – yep, it’s that kind of film – by Master Bua (Nirut Sirichanya, Protégé), Rajasena is having otherworldly troubles of his own, having been cursed by a supernatural warrior known as Demon Crow (Dan Chupong, Born to Fight), who eventually succeeds in killing Rajasena and taking over as ruler of the land. After a lengthy rehabilitation in which Tien uses Thai dance and trance-like meditation to help mend his broken body, Demon Crow finds him and the stage is set for one last battle of good vs. evil.

While that may seem like a whole lot going on, the majority of the film is focused on Tien’s better living through meditation, which can get a little, shall we say, stale. The fight scenes themselves, while few and far between, are among the most intense and well-choreographed of the series. Action fans were salivating at the thought of modern masters Dan Chupong and Tony Jaa facing off, but that particular fight is a bit of a let-down, especially coming after an excellent scene in which Tien actually enlists the aid of elephants in fighting off an army of Demon Crow’s followers. Co-written and co-directed by Jaa and action director Panna Rittikrai (Born to Fight), one can’t help but feel let down by this third and – with any luck – final installment of the Ong Bak series.

You can’t ignore the fact that this disc looks good. With plenty of scenes of Tien rehabbing his multiple injuries while meditating in front of a waterfall and dancing with Pim, it really is something to behold. The sound is decent as well, but nothing spectacular. As always with Asian fighting films, the English dub, should you choose to view Ong Bak 3 in this fashion, adds a comedic element to the proceedings. On to the special features:

The B-Roll footage is fourteen minutes features lots of behind the scenes sequences, fight training and prep work, as well as some alternate angles of scenes that made it into the final product. With very little dialogue, it’s a fast-paced, fun little featurette.

The Cast & Crew Interviews are a mostly interesting series of seven talking-head style interviews that add up to roughly a half hour. Jaa speaks for ten minutes, discussing the differences between Tien in Ong Bak 2 and in Ong Bak 3, saying he’s more tender now, deeper than ever before. He also discusses how he implemented a new fighting style, eschewing his usual Muay Thai style for Nat-Ta Yut, which he developed by combining dancing art with martial arts. Rittikrai praises Jaa in his five minutes, also discussing the elephant scene and how difficult and dangerous it was. Chupong explains how difficult such elaborate fight scenes were during both training and filming, while the rest of the main cast discuss their characters and their relationships to Tien.

It’s tough to give such a low grade to a film from such a beloved series as Ong Bak, but it is easily the least action-oriented of all three and even when the action is intense, they hit you with a WTF moment that’s almost as maddening as the whole Bobby Ewing/shower thing on Dallas back in the day. Ong Bak 3 is strictly for Ong Bak completists, though it is fun to write: Ong Bak, Ong Bak, Ong Bak!

Movie rating – 2

Disc Rating – 2.5