Seen on: September 5, 2008

The players: Directors: Oxide Pang, Danny Pang, Writer: Jason Richman, Cast: Nicolas Cage, Shaun Delaney, Steve Baldocchi, Charlie Yeung, Shahkrit Yamnarm

Facts of interest: Remake of the Pangs' 1999 flick of the same title.

The plot: A hit man gets into trouble after he travels to Bangkok and falls in love with a local.

Our quick thoughts: “Bangkok Dangerous” may not be as disastrous as I expected, but it sure is the perfect example of what happens to a remake going through the big, predictable Hollywood machine. In short, this means you’re in for an unsurprising action flick with a monotonous plot, insufficient suspense and only a few entertaining sequences.    

As the film opens, we are introduced to Joe (Nicholas Cage), a hit man who tells us a little bit about dealing in the business of death. For years, Joe has been playing it straight by the book, which means staying away from people and getting the job done without getting involved or asking any questions. The money is good, he tells us, but you must be willing to live in solitude.

Anyway, Joe is about ready to retire, and before calling it quits, he heads to Bangkok for one last job. But just as he prepares to disappear for good, a series of unexpected events thrust him into a desperate situation that forces him to break his own rules for the very first time. Besides being lured into a political assassination, Joe also befriends his errand boy (Shahkrit Yamnarm) and falls in love with a local woman (Charlie Yeung)…

Before I comment on what I didn’t like in the film, let me start with the good. Although some of their scenes are clearly over-edited, Danny and Oxide Pang created an exceptionally dark and visually intriguing thriller that makes great use of its locations and should make it easy for audiences to maintain a decent enough interest on what’s happening on the big screen.

The film also boasts a fair amount of action scenes, and while most of them give the plot a little boost, some lack the necessary suspense to be captivating enough. Besides a series of quick gunfights, a few explosions and a couple of pursuits, you won’t necessarily see anything that will blow away your mind. Still, the majority of these sequences are well coordinated enough to entertain.

Despite the good looks, “Bangkok” falls victim to several flaws, most of which can be traced back to the script by Jason Richman, who updated the Pangs' original 1999 flick and made sure to add all of Hollywood’s annoying conventional aspects. In short, the elements of surprise and innovation are gone, and it’s pretty easy for audiences to figure out early on into what direction the plot is heading.

Worse even, the film constantly switches from fast-paced action to romance, before switching back to action. It goes on like this for most of the movie, and it really does slow down the plot at times. Additionally, I just didn’t buy the whole love story between Joe and the charming local. I don’t have anything against flirting, but saccharine moments are not appropriate in this kind of thriller.

Although his hair is just as bad as in “Next,” “Conair” and in, well… pretty much all of his films, Nic Cage offers a surprisingly solid performance as the lonely Joe who doesn’t like to get screwed over by a bunch of wannabe gangsters. It’s a shame he doesn’t get more to work with out of the script, but he does more with his character than in most of his recent projects, even despite the whole love thing. Except for Shahkrit Yamnarm’s role as Joe’s delivery boy, performances by the supporting cast go unnoticed.

Freaky quote: “The work is steady, the money is good, but it's not for everyone." – Nicholas Cage

The final word: “Bangkok Dangerous” is not a boring film, and it’s not one of Cage’s worst either. It’s a definite improvement on the Pangs' previous horror flick “The Messengers,” and it delivers the goods in terms of direction and editing. Indeed, if the annoying rules of Hollywood hadn’t got in the way to mess up the script, this would have been a solid adventure. Despite its flaws, “Bangkok” is vibrant to please fans of the genre.        

Article by Franck Tabouring