Bangkok Dangerous

Danny and Oxide Pang return to the scene of their identically-titled 1999 breakout hit with this English-language remake, recast as a far more conventional vehicle for Nicolas Cage, playing Joe, an assassin-for-hire who travels to the Thai capital for what he hopes will be his final job. The plot thickens, however, after Joe grows protective of a local kid he hires as his right-hand man, and also falls for a sweet drugstore clerk. The twist in the original film was that the hero (or antihero) was a deaf mute, but Cage was apparently unable to stretch himself that far, so the affliction is passed on to the romantic interest, while Cage delivers a dreary voiceover and contents himself with soulful stares and constipated grimaces apparently meant to convey the sense of isolation inherent in his chosen profession. Apart from Cage's doe-eyed, stone-faced posturing, and a scenic tour of Thai sites (much of the film is basically a travelogue, with plenty of elephants), the raison d'être for this revised Bangkok Dangerous appears to be as a Hollywood platform for the Pangs to show off their action sequence chops. Unfortunately, the big set-pieces are sloppily choreographed, muddily lensed, and clumsily edited. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include the 16-minute featurette “From Hong Kong to Bangkok: A Look at Hong Kong Cinema,” “The Execution of a Film” production featurette (14 min.), a nine-minute alternate ending, and trailers. Also included is a bonus digital copy of the film. Bottom line: a decent extras package for a disappointing remake.] (F. Swietek)