Bangkok Dangerous

Released: 2008
MPAA rating: R
Run time: 1:39

I have a slight bias here in that I love hitman movies and I am sort of a Nic Cage fan, so factor that into your reading of this review. "Bangkok Dangerous" gives us the story of Joe (Nicholas Cage), a hitman for hire that works only through reputation: no one who hires him knows he is and he never knows who he is working for. As the movie opens, Joe's narration gives us the golden rules of his business:

I was taught four rules...
One: Don't ask questions. There is no such thing as right and wrong.
Two: Don't take an interest in people outside of work. There is no such thing as trust.
Three: Erase every trace. Come anonymous and leave nothing behind.
Four: Know when to get out. Just thinking about it means it's time. Before you lose your edge, before you become a target.

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that all of these rules will come into play before the movie is over. At this point in his career, he has already decided that the four hits in Bangkok will be his last job. When Joe falls for a local girl (Charlie Yeung) and befriends his errand boy, Kong (Shakrit Yamnarm), you can see the "rules" already eluding him. Of course, both of those relationships will be used against him at some point. As he moves through his targets, he finds himself also locked into a cat-and-mouse game with the mobster who hired him. The mobster does not like that he does not know who he hired and is trying to get to know Joe better. From Joe's standpoint, this is a major problem, setting up the climactic conflict of the film. Other than the voice-over narration by Cage, the movie is short on dialogue and lets the action and the tension tell the story. The "hitman at the end of his career" story line is really nothing new or ground-breaking, but I did find it to be an entertaining film. One crtitique is that, for a "cool, best-in-the-business" hitman, some of the hits we see are awfully sloppy and needlessly public. This just did not seem to fit this class of hitman. Also, the narration was very "breathy", almost obscene phone call breathy. Perhaps that's just Nic Cage's voice, but he seemed to be trying for a Clint Eastwood thing. Overall, an OK movie. I enjoyed it, but didn't love it.

Grade: C

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