Bangkok Dangerous

2008

Director: The Pang Brothers (Oxide and Danny Pang)
Action director: Inthira Sawantrat
Producers: Nicolas Cage, Norman Golightly, William Sherak, Jason Shuman
Writers: The Pang Brothers, Jason Richman
Cinematography: Decha Srimantra
Music: Brian Tyler
Editing: Mike Jackson, Curran Pang
Stars: Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek

Rated R for violence, language, and nudity

The Pang Brothers' remake of their 1999 debut Bangkok Dangerous barely limped to a number one spot with its' opening take and has been univerally savaged by critics. Upon exiting the near-empty theatre after a showing, this particular reviewer overheard people lamenting that this was the worst movie they'd ever seen. Okay, so Bangkok Dangerous isn't great, but it's not terrible either. And that's really Bangkok Dangerous' main problem -- it just feels like it's going through the motions. There's very little in the way of real soul or excitement.

In the movie, Nicolas Cage (who also produced the film) plays Joe, an assassin who heads to Bangkok to take on a series of jobs. Like many hitman movies, Joe's having a crisis of conscience, especially after bonding with his handler (Shahkrit Yamnarm) and falling for a local pharmacist (Charlie Yeung), so he decides to start turning down work. Of course, this doesn't sit well with his clients, which leads to a showdown.

Strangely, this remake drops one of the big hooks of the original -- the hitman being deaf. Instead, Charlie Yeung's character is the deaf one. Yeung's lack of hearing is used effectively in one scene, but for the most part, it comes off as an excuse for the Chinese actress to not to have to speak Thai. One would think the making of Joe into a "normal" person would lead to a deepening of the character, but Nicolas Cage's performance is so wooden, it comes off like he couldn't coax anything out of himself other than a runny turd after eating some spicy Thai food. Yes, we get that hitmen are supposed to be cold and fairly emotionless, but that doesn't mean they have to act like a robot, either.

When the focus is on the actual killing, Bangkok Dangerous does manage to coax out a bit of panache. Most notably, a scene where Joe uses the propeller of a boat to finish a job adds some flair. Unfortunately, those sorts of parts are few and far between. Bangkok Dangerous hits all of the technical parts right -- no one can accuse the Pang Brothers of making bad-looking films -- but when the end results are this boring, all of the style in the world doesn't mean much. As I said before, Bangkok Dangerous isn't necessarily a horrible film, but you'll probably feel cheated if you see it in the theatre or pay to rent it. Just wait for it to appear on cable and view it as it should be -- something to kill some time after you've had a couple of adult beverages.

RATING: 5