Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Ong Bak 2: The Beginning/องค์บาก 2 (2008) - Another energetic Thai revenge dish from Jaa and Co.

10/11/2022

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning/องค์บาก 2 (2008) - Another energetic Thai revenge dish from Jaa and Co.

♥♥♥

+ Best Martial Arts Movie of the Year + Best Revenge Movie of the Year + Best Thai Movie of the Year

Star Tony Jaa is perched incredibly upon the tusks and head of an elephant on this rad poster for Ton Jaa and Panna Rittikra's Ong Bak 2: The Beginning

Back in 15th century Thailand, a young man is intent on avenging his father's untimely death.

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is written by Ek Iemchuen (Skin Trade (2014)) and Nontakorn Taweesuk (The Bodyguard (2004)), with debuting co-writer/co-producer/co-director/star Tony Jaa (Singh Siam (1992, star)) and co-writer/co-producer/co-director Panna Rittikrai (2 Nuk Soo Poo Ying Yai (1986)) contributing story elements. It is the sequel to Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior (2003).

It is a visually resplendent, flashy follow-up with handsome scenes with exotic animals and protracted fight scenes. They are impressive, entertaining, - and a bit comical, as they can also seem like one long PR boost for the ever-present Jaa. There's also a very good-looking scene of traditional Thai dance.

The story plays second fiddle and is served with muddled precision in Ong Bak 2: The Beginning.

Tony Jaa, star; Panna Rittikrai story contribution: 2008 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior/องค์บาก (2003) - The acrobatic martial arts breakthrough

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 8 mil. $

Box office: 8.9 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.11 times its cost)

[Ong Bak 2: The Beginning was released 4 December (Thailand) and runs 98 minutes. Mystery and scandal enshrouded the production of the film, the first Jaa was set to direct himself: Jaa was said to have disappeared from the set for 2 months, creating a major contract conflict with enormous damages as result; and Rittikrai was apparently involved to help finish the film, which has a budget that is more than 7 times the size of the original Ong-Bak. The film opened #62 to a 26k $ first weekend in 10 theaters in North America, where it expanded to 12 theaters the next week but failed to gain a higher rank, grossing 102k $ (1.1 % of the total gross). The biggest markets were Thailand with 2.9 mil. $ (32.6 % of the total gross), France with 2.1 mil. $ (23.6 %) and Spain with 1 mil. $ (11.2 %). Jaa and Rittikrai returned with Ong-Bak 3 (2010), which was also Jaa's next film as a star. Ong Bak 2: The Beginning is rotten at 49 % with a 5.40/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Ong Bak 2: The Beginning?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

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Wolfgang Petersen has died

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Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

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Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (14-24)

10/11/2022

Ong Bak 2: The Beginning/องค์บาก 2 (2008) - Another energetic Thai revenge dish from Jaa and Co.

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Eagerly anticipating this week ... (13-24)

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