More boring self-indulgence from Nicolas Cage.
Image courtesy of IMPawards.com
Directors: Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang
Notable Cast: Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung
There is something mundanely familiar about Bangkok Dangerous and despite having roughly an hour to mill it over during the incredibly boring march to the end credits no specific influence came to mind. Rest assured there are plenty of movies around with similar stories. Heck, it wouldn’t be surprising to discover that there is some obscure movie with its exact plot lifted by the compelling failure that is Bangkok Dangerous (and I’m not just talking about the original).
The story of Nicolas Cage’s hitman, Joe, who has a change of heart is not explicitly terrible, but it isn’t exactly a blast to sit through either. The lack of a backstory hurts the movie’s impact greatly as there is never much reason to care for Joe beyond his voiceover reminding everyone that he has, in fact, seen the light.
There isn’t even a direct cause for his new found morality. He just seems to want out for no particular reason other than it makes him seem more human than if he were a hitman that, say, enjoyed his job. But mercifully for those fearing a sequel, he intends for Bangkok to be his last job.
When Joe arrives in the city ready to get his hands dirty with his last four victims, he seeks out a middle man between he and his employers. He finds a fittingly unsavory character so that he will not get attached. Rule number two: Don’t interact with people outside of work. Joe does, of course.
He winds up training his messenger, Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), because he “sees [himself] in [Kong’s] eyes”. Meanwhile, Joe goes around breaking others rules he used to live by as he becomes interested in a deaf pharmacist. (Looks like someone got their signals crossed when translating the plot for American audiences.) That breaks rule number three.
The breaking of rule number four is acknowledged almost immediately since Joe declares he is thinking about getting out of the business, which is said to be the best, and only, time to do so. Rule one is probably important too, but when you only have four rules and you go around breaking three of them, you may want to reconsider your chosen vocation.
And apparently the job and lifestyle of a hitman are exactly the same no matter who you are as the action unfolds in obvious fashion. One stark contrast is that Joe’s love interest, Fon (Charlie Yeung), is actually upset when she finds out her man is not a banker. Most women swoon over guys who kill with no consideration of human life, according to hitman movies anyway. Of course, with two language barriers in the way it probably would not have worked out anyway.
Incidentally, the only moderate success of Bangkok Dangerous comes from the competent use of foreign locales and unusual settings. The film cannot be faulted for a lack of style. Directors Oxide Pang Chun and Danny Pang offer up Bangkok as an appealing place to visit while still giving it a grimy, dangerous underbelly. The camera work lends credence to both depictions of Bangkok.
It doesn’t take a film student to recognize the directing style as decidedly Eastern, but it would take a film connoisseur to have seen the original Bangkok Dangerous. Just as well since it is likely better than this new version. Yet, Nicolas Cage (who was also a producer) and company should not be blamed for trying something new. Bangkok Dangerous never looks like a typical American-style action thriller, it just feels like one.
