One of my favorite actors Nicholas Cage has hit rock bottom/the rut and really shows no signs of getting back to mainstream entertainment leave alone serious cinema and so what we end up with in Bangkok Dangerous is insipid and uninspiring fare to the core and a movie that will actually manage to put you to sleep without much effort on its part. Nicholas Cage’s National Treasure series look like 24 carat gold compared to Bangkok Dangerous and even Ghost Rider begins to look like high value Hollywood entertainment after this debacle. What is surprising is that Bangkok Dangerous is the remake of a cult favorite Thai movie Bangkok Dangerous made by twin brothers Oxide and Danny Pang, but this English version is every bit as limp as a squid. Nicholas Cage plays a hitman, who has seen it all and done it all, cynic to the core and every bit as ruthless as you can expect. Even more absurdly and unfittingly, Nicholas Cage has a pained expression on his face always, is morose and glum faced, and has decided to hang up his assassins’ arms after a final job in Bangkok, the reasons for none of which are explained. Nicholas Cage lands in Bangkok and promptly hires a local street-smart pickpocket Shahkrit Yamnarm (Kong) to be his delivery boy and to ferry cash, weapons and the hit list of his targets. The initial plan Nicholas Cage has is to kill Shahkrit Yamnarm once his assassinations in Bangkok are done, but Nicholas Cage develops a soft corner towards Shahkrit Yamnarm when he is attacked by rival gang members and begins to train him in shooting, martial arts, etc. and just about everything else to train him as an assassin. As if to further melt and humanize Nicholas Cage’s heart, he falls for a deaf-mute pharmacy attendant Charlie Yeung and begins dating her.
In the meantime, Nicholas Cage continues on his assassinations spree, but the action is unimpressive and does nothing to raise the adrenaline levels. There is one charged up assassination sequence where Nicholas Cage chases his target in a boat and then ruthlessly chops off the target’s hand before pumping in bullets to eliminate him, but such moments are few and far in between. Nicholas Cage finally loses it and develops a conscience and refuses to assassinate his final target and this calls for the mob who hired him to go after him. This sets up a climax in an abandoned warehouse where troves of gang members are decimated by Nicholas Cage without even breaking into a sweat. Everything about Bangkok Dangerous fails to deliver, even the scenic locales of Bangkok fail to inspire and the movie just limps along to its predictable and lame climax. Enough said!!!
