REVIEWED - ONG BAK: The martial arts films that make it into commercial cinemas in this country tend to feature either aerial ballet at tree level or, if Jackie Chan has anything to do with it, comic chases through crowded markets. There is some of the latter in this bone-shaking Thai action thriller, but precious little of the former. Made without recourse to computer-generated imagery, Ong Bak's fight sequences have a vivid, noisy realism to them.

The film tells the story of Ting (the charismatic Tony Jaa), a clean-living, devout lad, the best Muay Thai fighter in his isolated town, who is dispatched to Bangkok to bring back the head of a Buddha that has been stolen by a low-level hoodlum. In the big city he runs into his homeboy George, now making a living as a petty gambler, and Muay, a pretty young street kid, who is trying to hustle her way through college as a card sharp. After initial squabbling, the three make common cause against the city's most terrifying villain.

Eagle-eyed viewers will spot a dedication to Luc Besson scrawled on a concrete pillar, but though director Prachya Pinkaew may be aiming for the French auteur's nauseating gloss, the sheer nasty (ouch!) brutality (God, that must hurt) of the violence sets Ong Bak apart from most western action films.

There is certainly light-hearted fun to be had, not least during a chase involving a huge fleet of taxis, but the scene which made the biggest impact on me sees the hero continuing to fight while his trousers are on fire (he'll want to put something on that).