Marketing Pop Culture: The Next Big Thing: Tony Jaa

May 18, 2006

The Next Big Thing: Tony Jaa

Much has been written about Tony Jaa, who was almost immediately granted entry worldwide to the rarified martial arts movie pantheon of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and Jet Li. based on the buzz on his first film—Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior.

When you see him in action, it’s clear that he’s absolutely fearless, particularly once you realize that he does his own stunts: no wires, no special effects. His is an electrifying combination of physicality and grace. Because of that, he’s a game changer: For some time, we’ll be left comparing every subsequent martial artist who hits the big screen to him. If calling him the “Michael Jordan of martial arts” sounds like hype, it’s not. But then, you could reasonably call Jordan the Charlie Parker of basketball. They both pushed their respective forms so far ahead of where/how their contemporaries played that it took a significant time for the rest of the field to catch up. A case could be made for Jay-Z in hip-hop, as well.

As someone who loves martial arts—both as a filmgoer and a practitioner—there are a couple simple criteria I have. First, I love seeing physicality that approaches the impossible due to a combination of inspiration, mastery, fluidity and natural ability. This is part of the reason I never really took to Sonny Chiba—his moves were too stiff. Second, I’d like to walk out of that movie knowing that if I devoted my life exclusively to training, it’s within the realm of possibility that I might be able to approach such a level of mastery. Now this second requirement precludes such feats as. . .performing any moves while flying through the air. For this reason, large portions of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, many early Jet Li movies and much of the Hong Kong martial arts oeuvre are unwatchable.

That inspiration and excitement, that sense that I'm being taken to the mountaintop, is exactly what I feel when I see Tony in action. Of course, no man is an island, and some credit must be given to the fight choreographer and stunt trainer who gave Tony his start in the Thai film business, Panna Rittikrai. I take it from Variety.com's Asian film blog Kaiju Shakedown, that Panna Rittikrai will is on his way to being famous amongst aficionados, the same or greater than Yuen Woo-Ping.

Now, in case you’ve not seen Tony Jaa in action, take a look at the clip from his next movie, Tom-Yum-Goong. Already released in Thailand, the film is the 2^nd most successful film in Thai history. It hasn’t been released yet here. Look for it in the UK in July, with a US release slated for December. It may be retitled “Warrior King,” which is lot better than “Thai Soup,” the current translation. This clip is courtesy of YouTube.com.

You might want to send any minors out of the room before you press play. Suffice it to say that the bad guys are getting what they deserve. This is poetry in motion and, in addition to his good looks, the reason why Tony Jaa is set to be a big star.