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USA 2008
Director: Oxide Pang Chun & Danny Pang
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Charlie Young, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek
Rating: R
Release Date: 5 September 2008
Running Time: 1 hour 38 minutes 14 seconds
The Movie Review
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BANGKOK DANGEROUS
(remake) |
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Guys, how about another remake to celebrate? Yeeeaaayyyy :-) ok ok I was just kidding, for most of moviegoers, remake is bad, remake is annoying, remake is worse, the thing is, it's just different! But does different means bad, worse or annoying? Usually comparison of the original and he remake would spark a debate about the importance of originality and renewal. But being released in 1999 and remade in 2008, did it really necessary to be remade? This movie with all the gun-carrying hotshots reminded me a lot of Martin Scorsese's 2006 movie called The Departed which was a remake of a famous Hong Kong action movie in 2002 called infernal affairs. I myself still like the Infernal Affairs better, even though The Departed is choked full of famous names. But alright, those are whole different movies. So let's take a look at this one.
Bangkok Dangerous is a remake of 1999's Thailand action movie with the same name. What is more interesting, the remake was even directed by the same directors of the original. Now, this usually implies a good thing, with a hope that the Nic Cage's version would be as good as the original. It's totally understandable, but why did they cast Nicolas Cage? He's definitely seems tired in this action film, I even would go as far as saying he seems to have lost the charm. But then again, it was his company that bought the license to do a remake, so of course he's on the list. But then again, why did Nic Cage even perform 'alone'? I mean, even Jack Nicholson 'enlisted' the help of Mark Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg in The Departed.
Nicolas Cage is Joe the silent assassin who does his killing job mainly using guns and his sniper rifle. He flies to Bangkok, Thailand to do a task given by a Thai mob boss, Surat (Nirattisai Kaljaruek) to finish off 4 people. During his stay for a month in Bangkok, Joe befriends a local pickpocket named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) who he hires as his errand boy. Which is actually unlikely for the lone wolf Joe to do so, even more unlikely he has a crush on a beautiful deaf pharmacist shopkeeper, Fon (Charlie Young). Joe does his job perfectly except for one person that Kong mentions as a good person. Joe, who is now more 'humane', torn between his principals and new life values. Of course, the mob boss is not just going to stand there and see Joe jeopardizes his organization. Joe is in the brink of a condition where the hunter becomes the hunted. What would he do?
There is one general rule to enjoy this kind of remake... Don't watch the original first! That being said, it means Bangkok Dangerous the remake relatively would disappoint the fans of the original. Don't get me wrong, it's still an action movie. We got all the explosion fiesta, running, boat chasing, foot chasing and quite thrilling gun fights and for fans of action genre, it's in fact pretty entertaining. The biggest flaw is, sadly to say, coming from Nic Cage himself and the story that was also written by the Pang Brothers. Nic Cage in this action film is like an empty shell, he supposed to look menacing, to be mysterious or to be heartless, but he's not. Besides, this flaw had to be shared with the fact that the story will Not induce any emotional attachment towards the characters. All we know is that he's an assassin in Bangkok. While in the original movie, Kong, who is deaf and is the main protagonist, has a more 'opened' story that made us understand why he is such a deadly killing machine.
In the original, Kong is mistreated, he's angry, he's deaf and he's deadly. In the remake, Joe is soft, tired and confused. This movie would be entirely soulless without the acting performance of Shahkrit Yamnarm who serves as a comic relief with his "Yes Boss" accent. And to point the thing that I found very good about this movie, is the ending. It's shocking and dramatic. Too bad, it won't be such a surprise anymore for fellow moviegoers who have watched the original. If you still curious about this film, then just Rent it first and then buy the original, that would be a wiser decision.
© iwan pranowo of Movielogy.com
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