When the head of a sacred religious statue named Ong-Bak is removed and taken away by thieves, a villager named Ting, an expert in the Muay Thai martial arts, journeys to Bangkok to find and bring it back.

Ong-Bak is a terrific film. I love how it feels like a Thai film, but one that is modernised. At no point does it try to replicate Hollywood fare.

The direction is kinetic, the performances on-point and the fight scenes glorious. In fact, I’ve never seen such beautifully brutal but equally balletic action sequences, whether it’s a martial arts bout or a chase scene (especially one that involves barbed wire, market stalls and mounds of crushed chillis). Tony Jaa is the best onscreen fighter this side of Jet Li, Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba.

There’s also a lot of humour, which never goes amiss. A point of reference for the film seems to be 1970’s James Bond, which is perfect for proceedings.

The film occasionally feels cheesy, but these incidents are few and far between. They are also completely forgivable as the film has so much heart that it’s hard not to be completely swept away by events.

I look forward to checking out Ong-Bak’s sequels.

4 out of 5 stars