Bangkok Dangerous Review
Posted by Joseph Lee on 09.08.2008
Come on, Pang Brothers, you're better than this.
Starring:
Nicolas Cage as Joe
Shahkrit Yamnarmas as Kong
Panward Hemmanee as Aom
Story: A hitman is sent to Bangkok to carry out four different jobs. While he is there he gains an apprentice and falls in love, while questioning why he hasn't got out of his profession yet.
Fun Trivia: The original film's main character is a deaf-mute hitman whose disability makes him a fearless, unflinching gunman. In this film, the love interest is the deaf-mute.
Let me just say that I really enjoy The Pang Brothers. I loved The Eye and even it's sequel, The Eye 2. When it was announced they would be making movies for American audiences, I was ecstatic. This meant more films by the two here in the States and more exposure. Their American debut, The Messengers was really bad and so I was very disappointed. Their latest film is Bangkok Dangerous, a remake of the Thai film of the same name, directed by the Pang Brothers. The original was about a deaf-mute hitman and this one is about Nic Cage as a hitman.
Nic Cage also has a string of critical failures for a few years now: National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, Next and Ghost Rider were all hated last year. This time around he plays a hitman named Joe who lives out a suitcase and travels the world. Joe has four rules for being a hitman, but ends up breaking all of them before the film is done. In his first role of 2008, Cage has a negative reputation that probably alienated filmgoers from this movie. He actually delivers a more subdued performance than recent. While nothing groundbreaking, Cage manages to hit all the right notes without going into overacting territory.
The fault of this film lies not on Cage, but the direction and script provided by the Pang Brothers. The direction is average, at best. There's nothing that stands out and there are some very bad moments that make the film hard to watch. One such moment occurs during the second job in Bangkok. There is an underwater drowning and it flashes between the action and darkness over and over. In other moments, there are rapid flashbacks to things that occurred beforehand and voice overs constantly reminding us one of the targets is a "good man".
Another problem is the script. There are some cringe-worthy lines and Cage's narration at times is grating. It seems to pop up at random spots and especially towards the end when the action begins picking up. Of course, by "pick up", I mean becomes mildly entertaining. The problem with all of the action scenes in this movie is there is no suspense. The hitman is portrayed as being so good at what he does, no one can touch him. This makes for boring shootouts and stalk sequences as there is no worry Joe will be killed any time soon. A plot development in the middle of the movie is quickly dismissed as Joe has it covered and has a solution for every problem. It's hard to get into a movie when you know the main character will get out okay.
The ending is also quite anticlimactic and while it may have been the only way out, they shouldn't have painted themselves into that corner to begin with. Once the final gunshot goes off, the movie just suddenly ends and left me wondering what the point was. Another minor problem is the love story feels forced. It literally feels like it was thrown in to make it more accessible to American audiences. Not every movie needs a love interest. Not only that but it only has a minor effect on the overall story.
This film could have been so much more (especially if they kept the original plot) but instead it was very disappointing. Nicolas Cage and his crazy hair are the least of this film's problems. The direction, script and cinematography are all factors that make Bangkok Dangerous a disappointing, and quite bad shoot-em-up.
The 411: While most expected Nicolas Cage to bring Bangkok Dangerous down, he actually manages to reign himself in. However the script and disappointing direction from the Pang Brothers make this a subpar action-thriller. There's a number of better options in the theaters right now, so avoid this one.
ok i'm not reading any of your reviews again. i mean every review has been really bad for you guys.
Posted By: johnny (Guest) on September 07, 2008 at 11:59 PM
yet another biased review from 411. man you guys are really dropping the ball lately.
Anyways, this is a great action flick imo. Sub standard storyline (considering it's a remake), but great acting by Cage and the rest of the relatively unknown cast. The only thing I was really disappointed was the ending although it showed a more realistic side of the main character. Overall, I'd give it a 8/10. Definitely worth watching.
Posted By: Mobius (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 12:26 AM
How is it biased? He said he likes the Pang brothers and enjoyed Nic Cage. You guys really don't read the reviews do you. You just don't agree with the rating so you so assume the review is bad.
Posted By: what?? (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 12:56 AM
haha.. well look at it this way, there are certain perspectives from which even the most unsavory things become beautiful. I've found that when it comes to this film in particular, watching the movie as if it were real life footage of this hitmans last days was extremely rewarding. This is a very real feeling movie. And to 411 staffers, this is a wrestling site.. what ever happened to playful suspension of disbelief?
Posted By: Guest#4242 (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 06:41 AM
While I agree that the movie looked like crap, I noticed a big flaw in part of your review. You said that there is no suspense, no fear of the main character being hurt, which made it a boring movie. Well....if youve watched a trailer in the last 5 years, youve probably seen shots from the end of the movie, and thinking about them during the movie itself is enough to take away any suspense or realism. In addition, its become a staple that the good guy wins in movies. You can be fairly sure that, unless you are watching a Coen Brothers movie, the good guy isnt going to get killed, or even injured. So, while I may agree with your review, for the most part, I have to disagree with your reasoning as to why it is a boring movie. Every movie suffers from the flaw you mentioned. In fact, the Dark Knight, possibly the best movie of all time, is even guilty of that. Because you know that nothing is really going to happen to him.
Posted By: dfgssdfg (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 08:40 AM
I'd argue that Batman had a lot happen to him. Maybe not physically, but he lost the love of his life and is now public enemy #1.
And thanks for actually reading the review, dfgssdfg.
Posted By: Joseph Lee (Registered) on September 08, 2008 at 01:06 PM
I thought the review was pretty fair. I think he gave it plenty of leeway. I personally wouldn't give it a 4. At best, it's a mediocre action flick, and that's if you want to put an optimistic view on things. The fact of the matter remains that few good movies have came out this year. Some of the good offer something to subjective tastes, while others leave bad tastes in everyone's mouths. This flick was one of the latter. It was a 2 dimensional story, which, is admittedly acceptable for an action film, unless, and this is where Bangkok messes up, unless that action movie is trying to be deep and phylosophical, or have some sort of meaning other than "Kill The Bad Guy." This movie tried to be something else, but only barely, and that's why it sucks, because it left so many paper thin plot devices, cliche dialogue, and a very "what the hell?" ending.
Posted By: Reader (Guest) on September 08, 2008 at 05:35 PM
i thought i would have a siezure when i saw that the reviewer didn't place the blame on Cage, and on the shitty writing and direction (where it belongs 99% of the time anyway.)
Posted By: Guest#3287 (Guest) on September 10, 2008 at 07:55 PM
I love when people who disagree with a review call the other person "biased," as if their own opinion is less so. Everyone's opinion is biased, that's what makes it an opinion. I'm consistently awed by people who expect a movie review to just summarize a movie and not give any real opinions or anything, and I wonder how in the world any idiot could get the idea that a film REVIEW is anything BUT biased.
Posted By: jayzee (Guest) on September 13, 2008 at 08:55 PM
4.5...and that's being kind !!Stop dissing the reviewers here they do a good job...with one exception..cough**Bryan**cough !!Peoples views of film are different...and different people review films here and people all over the world have different tastes so live with it !!
Posted By: Durden (Registered) on September 20, 2008 at 07:42 PM
