Bangkok Dangerous
                
Director: Pang Brothers
Year: 2008
Rating: 6.0
Whenever friends or family at home or strangers on social media ask me what Bangkok is like, I tell them to watch this film. Bangkok is just like that. Wonderful temples, giant golden Buddhas, floating markets, bad traffic, snazzy clubs with oodles of beautiful go-go dancers, festivals, scorpions being served in outdoor food carts, elephants in the parks, touts, tuk-tuks and of course assassins. Lots of assassins. Most of us don't come into contact with killers unless we have crossed someone or not given them face, but the rest is everyday Bangkok. It is a great place to live. And hired Thai killers can be bought for $300. Just in case.



This was a re-make of the Pang Brothers first film in 1999 of the same name. That was a Thai production with all Thai actors. The Brothers went on to make some other good films, either together or on their own, shifting between Thailand and Hong Kong. They became known for their stylish films that were more visual than narratively cohesive. The Eye is their best known film. Not sure if they went to a Western film company or they came to the Pang's to redo that early film with a few changes. Nicholas Cage is the assassin. He costs more than $100 though. In the original the hitman was mute but you can't make Cage mute, so instead they make the love interest unable to speak. It makes for some clumsy romantic scenes. If he had a haircut and didn't look like a shabby shaggy farang, it might have helped.


He has four rules.

1. Dont ask questions about the targets

2. Dont take an interest in people

3. Erase every trace

4. Know when to get out of the business

One look at Charlie Yeung as the mute pharmacy clerk and he tosses out number 2. Who wouldn't. Yeung was a big star in Hong Kong but had retired in 1997, after appearing in Downtown Torpedoes. That could make anyone retire. But she came back seven years later. Nice choice by the Pang Brothers. She isn't in the film that much, but in every scene she is in, she glows with a smile that could tame a cobra.



He is ready to get out. Four hits in Bangkok will set him up. Bangkok, he says, is perfect for this - it's corrupt, dirty and dense. What he doesn't mention or know is that Thai cops are famous for taking bribes and looking the other way. A Thai gangster has hired him through an intermediary. They don't know each other. Yet. Cage finds a Thai on the make guy to run errands. Number 3 should apply to him. But these things always get messy. A bit slower than you might want, Cage has the charisma of a blunt pencil, the required romance isn't really needed, Charlie or not, but the final 25 minutes takes off into John Woo territory