Ong Bak 3 picks up where Ong Bak 2 left off. Tien (Jaa) is captured, tortured and almost beaten to death by the Garuda King before he is rescued by royal decree and brought back to the Kana Khone villagers. There he receives extensive medical and spiritual treatment. In the meantime, the Garuda King is killed by Bhuti Sangkha who declares himself successor to the throne. Soon afterward he kills or captures all Kana Khone villagers, including Tien’s love interest Pim. Once more Tien must fight dark powers as he heads for a final showdown with Bhuti Sangkha.

The first 30 minutes or so have a lot of beating and healing and meditating and for the most part the script doesn’t make much sense at all. But don’t give up because the highlights are definitely worth it. Ong Bak 3 has a good balance between story, character development and action, as well as less wire-fu and some outstanding choreography, most notably a fight among an elephant herd. And Tony Jaa’s acting has also improved, thank goodness!

Talking about martial arts, Tony Jaa is amazing. I have no idea how he does the things he does, but I’m sure they have to hurt! It probably also helps if you have bendy bones or something. I think I’ll just stick with my Karate Kid crane stance. If you’ve seen the other Ong Bak films this will provide a nice conclusion. If not, don’t just dismiss it as a sequel – you will pick things up pretty quickly and enjoy the ride.