REVIEW: Bangkok Dangerous

BANGKOK DANGEROUS
By: Lee Rice

Thanks to a slow, dopey plot and an almost unforgivable dearth of action scenes, ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ will try the patience of any viewer who came to the theater looking for excitement.

‘Bangkok Dangerous’ follows Joe, a hitman who has become tired of the game and begins to befriend people that he meets on his latest assignment in Thailand. As with any other movie of this kind, he starts to break his own rules, meets a girl, and runs afoul of his former employers.

It’s a standard-issue plot that’s been recycled over and over, but as long as the action is good and the pace is fast, audiences are willing to let the repetition slide.

That’s where ‘Dangerous’ makes its big mistake. Rather than concentrating on Joe being a hitman on the run, the first three quarters of the movie concern themselves with the killer engaging such thrilling activities as… shooting watermelons! Going to a theater with his deaf/mute girlfriend! Eating Thai food, which he finds spicy! And, most thrilling of all… LEARNING TO PET AN ELEPHANT!!!

Bestill my racing heart.

As he plodded through character scene after character scene without any respite, I became more and more convinced that I was watching a high-concept romance, something along the lines of ‘Grosse Pointe Blank’ with a multicultural twist. Unfortunately, the action kicked back up again, and I realized that the movie had wasted nearly 20 minutes of my life on scenes that had no conflict or purpose other than to establish a relationship that the I had already accepted.

I understand the need to set up character, but other films have done the exact same thing in a way that doesn’t bring the action to a screeching halt, especially John Woo’s ‘The Killer’ or even ‘The Transporter.’

Nicholas Cage manages to give a passable performance as the killer, but to be honest, the same scenes that bog down the movie in the interest of character building are his weakest, and the chemistry between him and the female lead was almost non-existent.

To be honest, the most likeable character in the movie was his young assistant, played by Shahkrit Yamnarm. I would probably have been happier if the film had focused on his day to day activities than on ‘Joe’s Big Date.’

Complaints about pacing aside, the Pang brothers do a good job as co-directors. The action scenes are quite well done, and there is one extremely interesting shoot out in a bottled water factory. Besides the action scenes, there are several moments where the lighting has created some truly great images, most notably in a scene where Cage is stalking a man that pimps out child prostitutes.

Even though ‘Dangerous’ does contain some nice visual touches, they are too little too late, and the morass of Joe’s romance weighs heavily on the last part of the film.

Instead of being excited about the on-screen action, I found myself more excited that the movie was finally coming to an end.

This film makes Bangkok seem more mundane than dangerous, but if you insist on seeing it, bring a pillow for the middle section of the film. You can use it to take a nap, or if worst comes to worst, you can smother yourself to escape the boredom.

Final Verdict- D+