RATING: 2/5
After 2008's ONG BAK 2 is ended abruptly with an unexpected cliffhanger finale, ONG BAK 3 immediately picks up where the previous movie left off. The vengeful warrior Tien (Tony Jaa) is now held captive by his nemesis, the evil Lord Rajasena (Saranyu Wonggrajang), and ends up being punished brutally with all manner of tortures. Tien's body and mind is totally worn out, he becomes helpless and is about to face execution but unexpectedly saved by a king's messenger demanding him to be released at once. Tien is brought back to the village of Kana Khone, where Master Bua (Nirut Sirichanya) and childhood love Pim (Primrata Dechudom) tries their very best to recover Tien's mass injury. Tien is subsequently healed and begins to learn how to mediate while deepening his martial art skills via karma energy (in this case, the power of nature) and traditional Thai dance. In the meantime, Lord Rajasena is frequently haunted by vivid nightmares that caused him delusional and apparently he finds himself being cursed. Only the sinister Crow Ghost (Dan Chupong) claims he can break the curse but Lord Rajasena refuses his help and wants him dead instead. It seems that the Crow Ghost attempts to seize control of the kingdom from Lord Rajasena and eagerly awaited the return of Tien to fight against each other.
Plot-wise, there's no difference from Tony Jaa and Panna Rittikrai's screenplay we already previously seen in ONG BAK 2. In fact, ONG BAK 3 is more of the same except this time, the movie is lack of vigorous energy succeeded in the previous installment. Instead, the movie is surprisingly restrained with little action and spends more time focusing on the subject matter of Buddhist philosophy and particularly themes of karma. While the thematic approach is earnest, the movie feels more like a 90-minute filler than a cohesive whole.
Likewise, plot and characters doesn't really matter since viewers are more concerned of watching Tony Jaa engages in a series of bone-crunching fight sequences. Which is quite surprising as well, the action is less engaging and somewhat uninspired. The only best thing is the final confrontation between Tien and Crow Ghost, where Tien incorporates martial art skill with traditional Thai dance to defeat him. The particular fight scene is graceful, except that it's sadly too short and certainly not enough to satisfy action junkies out there.
ONG BAK 3 is an overall disappointment, and what's worse, Tony Jaa has made a shocking announcement that he's quitting showbiz to become a Buddhist monk. Whether his sudden departure is temporary or not, Tony Jaa will forever remembered as one of the best martial-art superstars in the movie industry.