Ong Bak

AroView: A martial arts juggernaut from Thailand, in which a benign village kickboxer travels to big bad Bangkok in search of a sacred statue stolen from his village.

With its exhaustively creative (and brutal) fight sequences yet tongue always a little in cheek, this cranks up the ante from the Jackie Chan template, with a staggeringly physical performance from newcomer Tony Jaa, who also has an ironic softness to his screen persona. The ‘Muay-Thai’ fighting style, though (apparently adapted from ancient instruction manuals), represents a new style of screen violence, all the more astonishing given that no CGI f/x, stunt doubles or wire-work was involved.