If I didn’t already know that there was a sequel incoming, I would have been even more surprised by the ending to OB2 then I was already. There’s another movie coming out, so I know that the very much finality of the film I saw tonight probably won’t quite hold, the hero will get a chance to dust himself off, get angry all over again, and beat the snot out of that evil king and goth dude.

Or will he? As Jaa’s character’s extreme thirst for revenge is what brought him to an even more ruinous situation and horrified the women he loves. He built himself into an unstoppable weapon, but at the end he’s discovered the limits of how far anger and skill can take him. It would be highly disingenuous if he’s just able to recover and kick further ass the sequel, as the film made quite clear that, well, revenge sucks, and he had to pay for his desire for bloodshed.

I don’t quite get what’s going on with the goth dude, is he some sort of bizarro Jaa (I can master this elephant too, ha ha) or what? But I wouldn’t put it past them. The movie really doesn’t end so much on a cliffhanger as it does in what feels like somewhere within a larger narrative. I don’t believe the ending Ong-Bak 2 was the logical, or even planned endpoint for the film, but for what it is, it will do, and it even got me thinking a bit, which isn’t something I would have ever thought I would get out of a flying elbows and knees movie, so good job Tony!