The Cage Chronicles: Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

Director: The Pang Brothers

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Charlie Yeung, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Panward Hemmanee

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 100 min

Nicolas Cage is an anomaly, as there are no other actors like him. He is hugely talented and diverse in that he can play both low scale and high broad characters with the simplest of ease. He also finds time to star within huge Hollywood blockbusters and win industry awards on the side. And yet, this Academy Award winning, A-list actor, headlines the B-moviest of B-movies time and time again, which thereby makes him even more unique. Seriously, there is no other actor like Nicolas Cage. He is one of a kind and a true national treasure. Although I have seen many Cage films, ranging from his greatest hits (Face/Off, The Rock, Con-Air), to his middling efforts (National Treasure, Windtalkers), to even the worst of the worst (Rage, Next, Stolen), I don't think that I'll be satisfied until I see them all. And since he's even more productive than DTV legend Steven Seagal at this point, I highly doubt I'll ever be able to keep up with his filmography.

Today's latest Cage viewing is 2008's Bangkok Dangerous, a mid-budget action film set in Thailand and directed by the Pang Brothers, two Thai brothers whom scored the opportunity to convince Hollywood to let them remake their own debut film but with a Hollywood actor. Essentially a larger budgeted DTV film, due mostly to the Pang's decent directing abilities and the weak visuals on display, Bangkok Dangerous is a perfectly middling action venture that plays to action fans' taste buds. Although Cage doubles as an action icon on the side, he typically stars within action blockbusters where he partakes within a gimmick plot (Face/Off: he and John Travolta switch faces, Con-Air: his flight home turns into a convict take over, National Treasure: a map to treasure is on the back of the declaration of independence). 

Therefore, a film like Bangkok Dangerous is nice because it's a pure and stripped down vehicle with little gimmick too it. The main selling point here is to see Cage as an assassin and to see him rack up a body count, that's it. It's very representative of the kinds of action films popularized in latter decades due to its simple fist fights and shootouts, but that's what draws me in to it, as I am very nostalgic for films of said nature.

Just try and not laugh at Cage's hairline. 

Cage plays Joe, an assassin whom lives on his own and moves around from place to place taking out targets for money. He's as simple and basic as your average movie assassin comes. His next job is a string of four kills that will all take place within Bangkok, Thailand. Therefore, Cage moves there, buys a low level home, and sets out to assassinate four different targets assigned to him from a local Thai gang. However, Joe's life quickly becomes complicated as he befriends a street level kid, Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), and a deaf woman, Fon (Charlie Yeung), whom becomes his romantic love interest. Joe's desire to live a normal life and to continue his assassin ways is tested as he realizes that he cannot have one without the other, thereby forcing him into a moralistic situation where he must risk those he loves or go up against an army of armed mobsters.

Bangkok Dangerous is a very surface level action film, wearing its stylized action, Asian aesthetics, and moralistic themes on its sleeve. It's a simple mid-level action picture, and not much more. While some will scoff at it as a silly and disengaging time waster, which it very much is, there's a lot of merit too it as well, such as a decent arc for its protagonist, some solid action here and there, and a surprisingly strong score by Brian Tyler.

The film falls into that rare category of remakes where it was in fact remade by the director(s) who made the original film it was based upon. Therefore, any accusations of bastardizing the source material were in fact okay'ed by the original creators themselves. While I have not seen the original film, reading up on its synopsis and watching footage from it reveals several differences between the two. The biggest change is that the lead assassin is deaf in the original film, yet Cage is not in the remake, although his girlfriend is deaf. There is a lot of added and unnecessary narration throughout the film in order to explain Cage's personality and motivation, it's easily the weakest spot of the entire remake. 

Second, the original is a very low budget and high energy action film that blends the styles of John Woo and Wong Kar Wai. The remake on the other hand is a mid budget, $40 million to be exact, action film produced by a Hollywood studio and with a major Hollywood actor in the lead role. All of the raw grittiness and arthouse sensibilities on display in the original are thrown completely out the window here, as 2008 Bangkok Dangerous is clearly a more streamlined and emotional rendition of the fast and artsy 1999 Bangkok Dangerous. It also has Nicolas Cage in it, so it's instantly a whole other beast unto itself. All in all, it too is an anomaly, as it is an Americanized attempt at an Asian production, which is ironic given that the film was directed by two Asian brothers.

Master and apprentice. Why again?

Even though the remake is a mostly Americanized rendition of an Asian story, some strong Asian stylistic influences shine through, especially the comparisons to the work of John Woo, whom Cage himself worked with twice before in Face/Off and Windtalkers. At the end of the day, Bangkok Dangerous is a very similar story to Woo's 1989 masterpiece, The Killer. It's a story about an assassin whom is the best at what he does. When he takes a liking to a handicapped woman, he slowly but surely realizes that he cannot have one without the other, and must make a difficult decision. As in both stories, that which is business and that which is personal is blended with one another, resulting in an emotional and personal finale between both the anti-hero assassin and his villainous employers. Overall, both films culminate in an epic shootout where one goes against many, so you still get your satisfying denouement from both a character and action stand point.

Bangkok Dangerous also features some weak, but still noticeable, themes of brotherhood between Joe and his apprentice, which can be seen as a similarity to the friendship between Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee in The Killer. Although this apprentice story is fairly unnecessary to the film, it does offer up another opportunity for Joe to become human and befriend someone whilst trading off his skills to another. This apprentice story line could have been strengthened if Joe himself were dying, which would add a whole other layer to an already simplistic film, making it that much more complex and interesting. Although the 2008 Bangkok Dangerous could be declared a crappy rendition of The Killer, as its Woo flourishes are very obvious, I for one still admire its sentiments, even though it doesn't work nearly as well as its superiors.

Beside's Joe's arc, the other strong element of the film is his romance with Fon, a sweet and beautiful deaf woman. This romance adds some welcomed humanity, thereby reflecting the seasoned storytelling talents of Woo, to what could have simply been a basic and bland action film. Joe and Fon's romance pulled me into a film that I honestly did not see myself becoming invested in from the start. It also helps that composer Brian Tyler's compositions are so strong, as they strengthen whatever emotions are already on display [Note: I tweeted Tyler about his work on the film, and he was kind enough to like my tweet back. You can always count on Tyler to beef up a Lionsgate film].

The sweet Charlie Yeung adds a lot of humanity to the film.

Unfortunately, the Pang Brothers are not the strongest of directors, as their mediocre talents as filmmakers hampers Bangkok Dangerous' overall effectiveness, from both a story telling and action stand point. The first two thirds of the film are very amateurish in their execution are extremely predictable in all regards. It all felt like your average, mid-level action picture, that does nothing more than entertain you from a B-movie stand point. However, the Pangs kick things into gear for their surprisingly strong finale in which the film goes places you won't be able to fully predict, although you'll be very close in guessing where character's arcs go and whom is going to die, if not entirely correct. Still, the formulaic and 'been there, done that' nature of the first two acts lulled me to sleep enough that the overall film took a beating, even if the finale turned things around.

With those insults aside, Bangkok Dangerous has some reliable enough action, especially for a late 2000s mid-budget action picture. Any action film where Cage racks up a kill count and shoots up his enemies in an old fashioned style is entertaining to me. Highlights include a boat chase amidst the markets of Bangkok, a nighttime assassination hit on Joe and Fon, and especially the entire finale that is ripe with memorable action shots and a high body count that stands as one of Cage's highest. I especially love both the absurdity and awesomeness of the water bottle room shootout in which Cage and a random henchman shoot at one another through jugs of water in a hilarious manner. 

Cage's short throw down with the main villains' right hand man also left much to be desired, as I love nothing more than a satisfying throw down with a henchman that you grow to love to hate. His death is great, but it should have been drawn out more, and shot better too for maximum effectiveness. And while on the topic of the villains, I have to point out that they are especially frustrating because they bring about their own problem in wanting to discover whom Cage's true identity is. Why would a gang want to ruin a great thing simply by wanting to know whom is working for them? Honor your contract and get rid of the people that you want to get rid of. Don't screw it up! You'll have absolutely no sympathy for these gangsters, as did I, when you see how dumb they are.

The biggest surprise of Bangkok Dangerous remains in its final moments, which I do not want to spoil for those who have not seen it. I also recommend that those who have seen the film seek out its alternate ending, which is not only radically different, but entirely complete and extended too. It's rare that an alternate ending is scored and color corrected, yet the Pangs went the extra mile to shoot a completely different ending. Those with a sharp eye will notice that the very final shot of the theatrical cut comes from the alternate ending itself.

Seeing red again.

You know how I just said that the biggest surprise of Bangkok Dangerous is in its final moments? Well, truth be told, the most surprising thing about this movie is that it opened to number one at the box office, no joke. Now, it only made about a mere $8 million, which marked it as one of the lowest number one openers of all time, but it still opened to number one, which kind of blows my mind that a mid-budget action movie starring Nic Cage could draw in such numbers, if any numbers. Nowadays, all of Cage's action films settle for the DTV/VOD market, so it's fun to think of a time when his films were somewhat successful like these.

Bangkok Dangerous is right up there with 1999's The Replacement Killers, another Americanized attempt at Asian action that reflects the themes and styles of its influencers and genre to an affective point, but doesn't exactly deliver the strongest characters or compelling stories to go with said action and style. Than again, there is a special place in my heart for forgotten and decent films like these, and Bangkok Dangerous is better than it should be. Cage, who sports quite possibly the worst hairline in cinematic history, is quite good in the role when you get past his silly looks. And the Pangs, who have a lot to learn, showcase some solid action and deliver some emotionally resonant moments here and there despite an all around amateurish feel to their direction and production. As far as Cage action films come, this is one of his middling efforts. If you aren't into Cage or Asian themed action, skip it. But if you're like me and love this kind of stuff, check it out. You'll walk away with more than you'd expect from a film of its nature.

Rating: 6.5/10 - Cage and the Pangs deliver some solid heroic bloodshed styled action and drama, but can't do more than produce an admirable time waster.