Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

Dark, gritty, absurd whilst in it’s own way poetic, dramatic and refreshing. Bangkok Dangerous details the story of Joe (Nicholas Cage), a professional hit man on his last job before retirement. When we are introduced to Joe he is at a point in his life when the loneliness is getting to him. His career affords him neither friend nor lover and he wishes to change that by retiring his rifle.

The dynamic of Joe is a bit darker than the typical “hit man” archetype of movies past, he is a bit of a paradox in the way he kills without remorse yet shows signs of affection for people who get close to him. The story gets complicated when Joe happens upon a beautiful deaf/mute Pharmacist by the name of Aom (Panward Hemmanee) and an unlikely student in his dark art.

Nicholas Cage delivers per the norm in this remake of the 1999 Bangkok Dangerous. The movie is spun as an action flick by the trailers but you will find that this is more drama than action and it actually has a story. There are fractured images in the movie that confused me however and I am left wondering if Joe is a heroin addict or not. Throughout the movie he is shown with a heroin kit yet it is used once on a victim and never again. The mood that Nicholas Cage conveys is similar to his act in 8mm when the protagonist turns from investigator to vigilante… he is quiet, taut-faced and focused. This type of movie seems to fit the actor, and although we are given nothing of Joe’s past, it seemed enough to come up with one of your own without the need for explanation. A little background would have helped though.

Bangkok Dangerous could have used a little more work on the people quotient of it’s drama. We are given a brief glimpse of Aom and her mom but we aren’t given enough to care about them. Joe’s relationship with Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) seemed rushed and unrealistic, and finally when the double-cross occurs (the trailers already revealed the script so this isn’t a spoiler)… we have no clue as to why the bad guys are motivated to even do it. So with that being said you may wonder what was so good about Bangkok Dangerous, and I can answer that with “Joe”. The consummate warrior, the character of Joe is very interesting, he is the American Cowboy reinvented into a modern day hit man. He is calculating, deadly and cold but he is also a gentleman who sticks to an iron clad set of rules and codes. You can recall James Bond or Jason Statham’s character in The Transporter for examples of this type of hero.

All in all I would recommend picking this up for a once around. It may not offer anything new but I must say that the way it ends will either piss you off, or make you love the movie even more for it’s absurdity. I loved the ending and wished for more like it in films of this nature… it represents the warrior spirit and it makes the character of Joe more genuine than the movie itself. A good movie for the action/drama fan.