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Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior By David DiCerto Catholic News Service NEW YORK (CNS) -- Fists and feet of fury abound in "Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior" (Magnolia), a martial-arts action movie set in Thailand about a local scrapper (Tony Jaa) -- trained in an ancient fighting system -- who volunteers to retrieve a sacred Buddha statue revered by the locals which was stolen from the village temple by a ruthless crime boss (Sukhaaw Phongwilai) looking to sell it on the black market. Director Prachya Pinkaew dresses up the film's generic chop-socky premise with hyperkinetic fight sequences -- as balletic as they are brutal and all done without special effects -- which show off the athleticism of Jaa, who combines the acrobatic daredeviling of Jackie Chan and the lethal limbs of Bruce Lee. The film contains much strong action violence, drug content, an aborted sexual encounter, fleeting rear nudity and sporadic rough and crude language. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. - - - DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. END Copyright (c) 2005 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed. CNS · 3211 Fourth St NE · Washington DC 20017 · 202.541.3250 |
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