For a man obsessed with The King -- he even married his daughter -- it makes sense that Cage has finally entered the fat Elvis act III of his career. I hope we don't read about him flat-lining on the commode, face down in the "Ghost Rider 3" script.
Bangkok Dangerous (2008)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:87
Fresh:8
Rotten:79
Average Rating:3.4/10
Consensus: With murky cinematography, a meandering pace, a dull storyline, and rather wooden performances, The Pang Brothers' Hollywood remake of Bangkok Dangerous is unsuccessful.
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Genre: Action/Adventure
US Box Office: $15,195,406
Synopsis: The second film from Hong Kong-born twin directors Danny and Oxide Pang to earn a U.S. remake (after 2002's THE EYE), BANGKOK DANGEROUS differs in that, this time around, the brothers are doing the... The second film from Hong Kong-born twin directors Danny and Oxide Pang to earn a U.S. remake (after 2002's THE EYE), BANGKOK DANGEROUS differs in that, this time around, the brothers are doing the remaking themselves. Swapping Pawalit Mongkolpisit's mute Thai hitman from the original 1999 film for Nicolas Cage's brooding (but talking) American assassin, this version is less moody and stylized. Still, fans of Cage, and action aficionados who favor exotic locales, should find much to chew on in this unique thriller. Following an assignment in Prague, lonely hitman Joe (Cage) arrives in Bangkok under contract to a mobsters who have hired him to kill four people, including a trafficker of young girls and a politician. After seeing young street criminal Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) in action, Joe hires him to be his liaison to his employers. During a trip to a pharmacy to get disinfectant for a wound gotten during a motorcycle chase, Joe meets pretty mute pharmacist Fon (Charlie Young). The two begin to date, and though she is oblivious to his profession, she provides some sweetness in his dangerous, lonely life. Joe also becomes a mentor to young Kong, but these meaningful distractions in his life could prove dangerous to his job. BANGKOK DANGEROUS has an unglamorous slickness that makes it seem as if it could've been made in the late 1980s or early '90s. Cage is appropriately stoic as Joe, and sports a bizarre mane of jet-black hair. The Bangkok locations are effective and the crowded nighttime streets make for exciting chase sequences. The onscreen violence is not exceptionally graphic with the exception of a realistic arm severing, and one sequence of bullets puncturing a boat as seen from underwater is beautifully shot. Most surprising, though, is the film's final sequence, which is uncharacteristic of most American-made action yarns. [More]
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chakrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung, Charlie Young
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Chakrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung, Charlie Young, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek, Dom Hetrakul
Director: Oxide Pang, Danny Pang, Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang
Director: Oxide Pang, Danny Pang
Screenwriter: Jason Richman
Producer: Jason Shuman, William Sherak, Nicolas Cage, Norm Golightly
Composer: Brian Tyler
Director: Oxide Pang Chun, Danny Pang
Screenwriter: Jason Richman, Oxide Pang Chun
Producer: Nicolas Cage
Studio: Lions Gate Films
Reviews for Bangkok Dangerous
All it proves is that on their home turf the Pangs can make an international hit-man tale every bit as trashy and dull as the ones made in Hollywood or Europe.
Couldn't the Pangs have spent some of that studio money on more lights?
Instead of killing people, Nicolas Cage's character should have been more worried about getting a haircut.
the proverbial sound and fury, filled with typical Asian action film gravitas yet signifying nothing. A whole lot of nothing.
Certainly lives down to its title, which sounds like a caveman giving travel advice.
What Cage -- such a fine actor when the mood's upon him -- is doing wasting his time in listless junk like this is anybody's guess.
As rubbish Nic Cage movies go, Bangkok Dangerous is just about watchable, but as far as pointless remakes are concerned, you're much better off renting the original instead.
But even if you don't tire of the relentless violence, you might want to call time on Cage's tough-but-sensitive übermensch.
A (slightly belated) reappraisal of his way of life recalls John Wayne in The Shootist, and evidently this is intended as more than a gore fest. The result is surprisingly dull.
This grainy shoot-em-up is stuck in the Nineties, which means it is a decade ahead of Nicolas Cages mullet haircut.
The script is a compendium of cliches, but not all boring. There is one passable chase scene on motor boats and a characteristically gruesome shoot-out at the end.
The Pang brothers remake of their slick 1999 calling card is saddled with both a morose voiceover from Cage and another of his now-trademark hairdonts.
Ludicrous? Occasionally. Ponderous? Frequently. But dangerous? Only for the careers of Cage and his stylist.
As a Cage remake goes, it's never as terrible or inadvertently hilarious as The Wicker Man; but its functionality, over-familiarity and misguided morality makes it more Bangkok Dubious.
It's certainly no worse than the original - a flashy grab-bag of tricks to begin with - and has a certain grim stylishness in its favour, but you miss the breezy, funny Cage of old.
A remake of the Thai movie by the same name. As well as every other movie about a hitman who lives by his own rules.
There are some flashy sequences, which can't conceal the essential silliness and fatuity.
None of this compensates for the overfamiliar plotline, the underdeveloped side characters, the breakbeat soundtrack, the boring shootouts and a general air of overbaked silliness. But it helps.
It turns out Bangkok isn't very dangerous. It's glacial, abysmally photographed, dreadfully acted, faintly plotted, and frequently absurd. But dangerous? Not really.
Latest News for Bangkok Dangerous
March 01, 2009:
Global-Report News: A toxic blend of hitman midlife crisis, homicidal existential angst and a little surprise sex tourism on the side, this arty assassin fare gels by sheer force of personality grim reaper guru Cage, no matter how cranky the guy can be. ![]()
More...
January 04, 2009:
A toxic blend of hitman midlife crisis, homicidal existential angst and a little surprise sex tourism on the side, this arty assassin fare is held together by sheer force of personality grim reaper guru Cage, no matter how cranky the guy can be. ![]()
More...
January 03, 2009:
A toxic blend of hitman midlife crisis, homicidal existential angst and a little surprise sex tourism on the side, this arty assassin fare is held together by sheer force of personality grim reaper guru Cage, no matter how cranky the guy can be. ![]()
More...
January 03, 2009:
ActorsAndCrew.com: A toxic blend of hitman midlife crisis, homicidal existential angst and a little surprise sex tourism on the side, this arty assassin fare gels by sheer force of personality grim reaper guru Cage, no matter how cranky the guy can be. ![]()
More...
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