‘Fast and Furious 7’ Gets Tony Jaa of ‘Ong Bak’ Fame To Add More Kicks: Full Blown Action Rivals Expendables

The "Fast and Furious" franchise is quickly shifting into full-blown action. The latest addition is Tony Jaa, the lead star of the surprise success "Ong Bak" series. He replaces Sung Kang and adds more kicks and action. With action stars galore in its cast, Fast and Furious 7 can rival the Expendables.

Tony Jaa, the Thai actor who made waves with the 2003 feature "Ong Bak" was touted as Hollywood's next big thing. The young martial artist had shades of Bruce Lee's presence without looking like a "wannabe." Instead, he relied on a combination of ingenuity, quickness and outright deadly moves.

Jaa lost his momentum when the sequels to the Ong Bak proved to be disappointments, and he was soon forgotten by mainstream fans. Joining the "Fast and Furious" for their seventh  installment is a great move for the Ong Bak star as he hoped to roundhouse kick his way back to moviegoers' memory.

"Fast and Furious" is now more furious than fast. Since the fourth installment which saw the shift in focus back to Vin Diesel, each sequel featured new and meaner opponents and more explosive action. Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson was a massive addition (pardon the pun) in "Fast Five" and international adventures have placed the street gang on a global scale in "Fast and Furious 6," very similar to "The Expendables" territory.

In the movie, the main additions will be Jason Statham and Tony Jaa. There will still be car chases galore, but the main theme of the movie will be Statham's character and his vengeance. It is not known which side Tony Jaa's character will take, but reports from The Hollywood Reporter see him matching up with MMA fighters that the franchise will also tap.

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