Saturday 19 September 2009

Film Review: BANGKOK DANGEROUS (2008)


Director: Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang
Running time: 99 mins (approx)
Certificate (UK): 18

Watched on Sky+ Saturday 19th September 2009.

PLEASE NOTE: POSSIBLE SPOILERS IN THIS REVIEW.

Based on a 1999 Thai film of the same name and made under the supervision of the same directors, I expected something better. I haven’t seen the original, but since Hollywood has seen fit to pump money into a remake, it can’t have been all that bad. It seemed to be a film that couldn’t decide what story to tell, there was a love story (actually two, now I think about it), there was the tale of a hit-man & the tale of a hit-man training his replacement. But rather than concentrating on just one or two, we get all of them at once. Just too much to take in. Anyway, here’s a bit about the plot(s) before I continue.

Joe is a hit man, a paid assassin, who lives to a code. No more than four ‘jobs’ in one place, don’t get involved with anyone outside work, move on as soon as the work is done and leave no loose ends, simple. Unfortunately, he goes to Bangkok and ends up breaking all of his ‘rules’. He gets to know, and like, his hired go-between, Kong and he meets and falls for a deaf girl, Fon. He is employed by a gangster, Surat, to dispose of some of his rivals, but when asked to kill a politician who is a hero to the Thai people for stamping out corruption, Joe has second thoughts.

To me the way the film was shot didn’t work, the film has a kind of washed-out quality to it that lends nothing to the vibrancy and colour of the region. Nicolas Cage, although he played his part well, looked like a man in a hurry, and he was too thin. So, decent performances from the main players, namely, Nicolas Cage as Joe, Shahkrit Yamnarm as Kong, Charlie Yeung as Fon, Panward Hemmanee as Aom and Nirattisai Kaljaruek as Surat. Unfortunately the plot got far too complicated, although there were some nice chase sequences, and the cinematography left a lot to be desired.

My score: 5/10

LINKS:
IMDb Site: http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0814022/
Official Site: http://www.bangkokdangerousmovie.net/

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