Thai Boxing is brought to a whole new level by Tony Jaa in Ong Bak. While the tale is a very simple one, revolving around a mutilated Buddha statue at a remote village in Thailand and the attempted recovery of its missing part in hectic Bangkok, the fighting scenes put Ong Bak a cut above the usual martial arts fare.

In general, the film is driven by two factors: Tony Jaa in the role of Ting, who causes all sorts of spectacular damage with his circus-quality martial arts, and supporting actor Petchtai Wongkamlao who is responsible for the acting. Before Tony gets to really take down his opponents in style, he first has to run for it, which is one of my favorite parts in the movie. In this chase scene, Tony turns into a human trampoline on the run, performing somersaults over tables at a busy Bangkok market, and later evades his enemies by sliding under a car that happens to be in his way. As far as humor is concerned, everything rests on the shoulders of Petchtai's character Humlae who doesn't think twice about reaching for chili powder and paste to make his bloodthirsty opponents look like amateurs. Another comic relief scene is the one in which Humlae faces the crowd with a jumbo-size butcher knife but is cut short by a sales lady who happens to pass by with a cart full of knives.

Once the film arrives at the Thai Boxing gambling ground, there is no stopping Tony. He takes on and finishes off whoever happens to come along, from a muscle-clad powerhouse to a swift boxing-style martial artist. When everything gets too much for Tony's attackers, they reach for assistance in the form of knives, and even refrigerators and charged wires, but all to no avail. In the grand finale, it's once again Tony who takes his foes apart with seemingly non-stop kicks and elbow blows that always hit the target. Tony also shows off his skills wielding weapons as he goes on to use a bo staff that later gets reduced to a pair of kali sticks against sword- and saw-swinging enemies.

Ong Bak is far from food for thought, but it does deliver martial arts magic that is very hard to beat.