Ong Bak VS Tom Yum Goong

[ORIGINAL POST]

I was watching Ong Bak again yesterday and I'm going to have to reverse my opinion stated on LiveJournal: Ong Bak is better than Tom Yum Goong. The stories are pretty much the same. In Ong Bak, Tony Jaa goes after the stolen head of his village's Ong Bak statue. In Tom Yum Goong, he goes after his family's elephant. Both are sacred, but Ong Bak's story sounds just a little bit cooler... and the jaded viewer in me couldn't help but remember a certain Simpsons episode ("Where's my elephant?"). I definitely prefer the music in Ong Bak to Tom Yum Goong's. Ong Bak just seemed to have more... I don't know... martial arts-sounding music. Not that Tom Yum Goong's music was bad - it was definitely appropriate. I can't put my finger on it, but the action sequences in Ong Bak were better than Tom Yum Goong's after all. I remember watching Ong Bak in the theater and being amazed at not only Tony Jaa's moves but also how quickly he returned to his fighting stance. His form was absolutely flawless. I think he also hit MUCH harder in Ong Bak with his elbows and knees. I can't help but think he had to tone it down a bit for the Austrailian crew in Tom Yum Goong. Then again, Tom Yum Goong had the 4-minute no-cut action scene, the guy who looked and acted just like Eddy Gordo, and the bone breaking moves. Tom Yum Goong was supposed to be an international movie with more variety everywhere and they've succeeded. I think Ong Bak is better as a whole. In Ong Bak, Petchthai Wongkamlao (Hum-Lae) actually had a pretty big role; his role was rather cursory in Tom Yum Goong despite shooting a few bad guys. He was funnier in Ong Bak too. Tony Jaa was pretty much perfect in Ong Bak, but in Tom Yum Goong, he had about ten lines... and most of them were either "Where's Johnny?" or "Where's my elephant?"... and what did happen to Johnny anyway? At least everything was wrapped up nicely in Ong Bak. So to put this in Tekken terms: Ong Bak is like TTT in its prime, whereas Tom Yum Goong is like T5 in its prime... whenever that was.