Vin Diesel’s massive pecs aside, Tony Jaa is probably providing the most entertainment of any character in “XXX3.” He’s clearly having fun playing a more volatile mercenary fighting alongside Donnie Yen’s character Xiang. On the dance floor, Jaa’s character Talon twirls a black fedora through his fingers, nailing a few classic hat tricks that are clearly inspired by the man in the mirror. “[Talon] has an energy and a power of mind. So when he is fighting, he’s laughing and dancing so he reminded me a little of Michael Jackson,” Jaa told The Action Elite in Toronto during filming.
Knowing a good thing when he sees it, “XXX3: Return of Xander Cage” director DJ Caruso helped Jaa incorporate a little bit of the legendary singer’s essence into Talon. According to Jaa:
“When he first saw me in my costume on set and I started to dance while doing Muay Thai Boxing then did some Michael Jackson, he said ‘THAT is your character! That’s Talon!’ So I would learn to use Muay Thai techniques and weapons like guns and knives. He would show me how to mix them together and he was amazing.”
For fans of Jaa who have seen his earlier action films or, perhaps, noticed him when he first worked with Diesel on “Furious 7,” it should come as no surprise to see him embrace dance and fight choreography with the same level of ease. Some of the action sequences in Jaa’s electric series of “Ong Bak” films feature some balletic moves from the Thai martial artist that are still mesmerizing to watch today, even in a post-“John Wick” world.
