Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

With "Bangkok Dangerous," Hong Kong's Pang Brothers breathed new life into an old story with a remake of their own 2000 film of the same title. While the earlier film was entirely Asian, the brothers hired American film star Nicholas Cage and reworked the original characters and story for the remake. The result is a gritty, fast moving action flick that breaks no new ground, but will hold viewers' attention with an Asian take on a familiar gangster tale.Cage is Joe, an aging professional hit man, who heads for Thailand to take on his last four assignments before retirement. A laconic loner, Cage lives by rules that dictate no personal involvement, and he routinely cleans up after a job by eliminating any co-workers. Inexplicably, Joe violates his rules in Bangkok, not only becoming friend and mentor to his assistant, Kong, played by handsome Thai actor Shahkrit Yamnarm, but also becoming romantically involved with a deaf-mute pharmacist, sensitively portrayed by Hong Kong actress Charlie Yeung. While softening his posture with Kong could be understood as a passing of the torch before his retirement, the romance with Yeung is entirely out of character, and even Cage seems uncomfortable in his scenes with the much younger actress. The pair are an odd couple, and the romance completely implausible. With Joe's lack of either Thai or sign language skills and her inability to speak or hear or understand English, viewers will wonder how they communicate at all. Needless to say, after Joe violates his own professional rules by befriending his assistant and romancing a deaf-mute pharmacist, the game changes drastically.Although some scenes were shot in the famous floating market, the seedy side of Bangkok is emphasized and figures prominently throughout the film; this is not the Bangkok of temples and palaces, and the Thai tourist board was undoubtedly displeased. The dark grainy cinematography by Decha Srimantra further emphasizes the shady side of the Thai capital. In one interesting sequence, the Pangs mimic the Zapruder footage of the Kennedy assassination to good effect. Cage gives a solid, if unexciting, performance and looks appropriately tired and pasty. Cage again proves himself an able action star and holds the film's focus; his Asian support is largely unexceptional, although both Shahkrit and Charlie are attractive performers. The Pangs have brought an Asian eye to a tired American story and gave it a fresh look. A relatively short film, "Bangkok Dangerous" should satisfy Cage fans and those seeking a fast-paced action movie, who can overlook flaws in the script and character development.

If there is one thing that I can say about this movie it is that it is an advertisement for Bangkok. Okay, one might wonder if a film about a hit man strutting his stuff and killing people can really be an advertisement, but since the movie seems to take you to a number of place (not the Tiger Temple though) that are touristy in Bangkok then it simply came across as pretty much an advertisement. Mind you, through in a big name actor like Nicholas Cage and you are guaranteed an audience.A lot of people did not like this movie and I can tell why. It is little more than your standard, run of the mill, movie about a hit man. The movie opens with our protagonist telling us that he has four rules that he follows, and then proceeds to break all of them. However what people don't seem to realise is that right at the beginning we learn that he has a desire to settle down because he is always on the move and he is never able to form relationships with anybody, namely because of his job. I guess it is a part of all of us, especially if we are disconnected from society the way he is. To say that everybody desires relationships though is a broad statement that does not hold up to reality. There are a lot of people out there that pretty much shun any form of connections with other human beings, usually because they have been hurt so much by people's selfishness that they simply do not want to connect.We don't know much about this guy though, but then that is probably because the character, and the movie itself, is so shallow. He does mention that he sees something of himself in the guy that he takes on as a student, but that is pretty much about it. The ending of the film is supposed to be sad, but then since this movie is a rather shallow movie that comes across as an extended advertisement then any emotional aspects are simply not going to work. This is an okay movie to watch, once, and probably that is it. I do not see people wanting to pull it out at a video night, unless they want to see an extended advertisement of Bangkok wrapped around the story of a hit-man.

Don't prejudge from other reviews! Very nice and well Executed film and nice plot. If you want good action and love story, this is it! I don't want to spoil anyone, you want assassin and love connection, little suspense, this is very good movie to watch. Nicolas gives well performance and all other casts do well. You don't see Blonde girls, but very nice Asian actress. If you are looking for Nudity, this is not it. I, for one, love to watch Nicolas's movie because there aren't too munnecessary stupid nudity like most of movies these days. This is WHAT DRAMA IS, WITH ACTION, WITHOUT NUDITY. Also, if you are Nicolas fans, it's a MUST SEE. Looking for top 10 global ward movie, go look at Benhur. This is action, drama,spicy, love, friendship. Enjoy everyone^^

The cover doesn't tell the entire story. Just as the olde saying you can't judge a book by its cover comes into play, thus the same addage plays with this movie. It was more a romance mixed with a action, though not much action...it was all killing, a few kills here and there..not like the hit-man movie.... totally not worth watching..enough said..Nicholas Cage's worst movie I've seen. It said he produced part of it, however. I am going to go back and watch the other one, the original movie, and compare it to this. I guarantee the older one is better. I love action movies, and during this one, I was bored in parts. The only part that snagged me was when he fell in love with that girl. I for one did not think the plot tied together well. I see why they didn't receive the cashflow coming back that they put into the movie. So sad wasting money to make this movie. They could've used the money to charity or something like that.