By Malice Intended

From the early 1980’s to the late 1990’s, Hong Kong was the world’s greatest purveyor of martial arts cinema.  These films took fight choreography and action filmmaking to new and unimaginable heights, making stars out of personalities like Jet-Li and Jackie Chan in the process.  A convergence of circumstances brought the creative and commercial renaissance to a grinding halt.  Though the Hong Kong film now operates at a greatly diminished capacity, the influence of its golden age can still be felt internationally.

One film series that greatly exhibits the traits of Hong Kong Action cinema is Thailand’s Ong Bak franchise.  On January 14^th, American fans will get to see the third and final entry, Ong Bak 3.  The film is a sequel to the second entry and a prequel to the first.  After being captured and nearly killed, Tien (Tony Jaa) is nursed back to health by Kana Khone villagers.  During his time in the village, he is schooled in the secrets of meditation, which will come in handy when he confronts his arch nemesis.  Star Tony Jaa splits the directing, writing and production duties with Panna Rittikrai.

Like its immediate predecessor, Ong Bak 3 eschews the modern day pit fighting motif of the original for the ancient jungle adventure setting of the second film.  The one essential constant throughout each installment has been Tony Jaa’s amazing physicality.  He performs splits and pirouettes in mid air; taking on any number of opponents at one time.  The official teaser trailer for Ong Bak 3 has an abundance of outlandish stunts performed by both Jaa and his opponents.  It really doesn’t give away much in terms of story or plot, which are quite frankly inconsequential for a film like this.

With the Hong Kong action film industry a shadow of its former self, it’s good to see that it’s style and spirit lives on in the output of territories such as Southeast Asia.  Tony Jaa is very much in the tradition of great athletes and martial artists such as Bruce Lee and Donnie Yen.  Such stars turn the human body into an amazing vessel of violent poetry, rendering the impossible possible.  Ong Bak 3 may not have the production values and technical pedigree to compete with big budget U.S. films, but it more than makes up for that with its amazing ingenuity.

[pro-player width=’425′ height=’344′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpG510rBqww[/pro-player]

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