Bangkok Dangerous

 So the other night I watched Bangkok Dangerous with Nicolas Cage, whom I love in both the National Treasure movies.   I have seen Bangkok Dangerous before and I enjoyed it then and this last time.  Her is the deal; Cage is a hit-man who is planning to leave the business behind after a series of jobs in Bangkok.  When the movie starts he is in Prague and is in a roof-top bell tower, waiting to shoot some random victim, the camera shot is through the scope of his sniper rifle (pretty cool).  As the second hand of his watch ticks away, once the time strikes 12, at the same split second the tower-bell tolls, he shoots the victim right in the brain bucket (bong! nighty-night).  The entire time the movie is playing Cage’s character (Joe) is narrating the rules to the hit-man game. 

Joe: 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.

Rule number three; leave nothing behind includes the unlucky local dude who has been his lackey during this particular job.  Cage ices the dude and makes it look like the guy OD’d on heroine.  Next stop is the airport and a flight to Bangkok.  Continuing his narration, Cage is setting up business as usual, as he watches a local guy hustles what looks like a group of sucks, I mean Americans.  The guy uses a razor to cut the Americans backpack and steals his wallet.  Cage approaches the dude while he is eating and hires him, poor b@stard.  As Cage’s character is narrating, you can tell he wants out of this life.  He even talks about being invisible so long the human race looks like another species.

As an actor, Nicolas Cage seems to love playing strange characters and Joe in this movie is a bit off center, but what can you expect from a hit-man.  He gets a scratch on his arm after he kills some guys in a car (the scene is cool) so he goes to an all-night pharmacy and sees a pretty Thai woman working there, immediately he is taken by her beauty and grace.  BTW she I also deaf and he is acting like a bumbling idiot instead of the cool and stead hit-man we have been seeing.  Eventually they end up on a date and everything is going great, of course this is the point when all h#ll breaks loose…

Released 5 September, 2008, Bangkok Dangerous is a remake of a Thai film of the same name (and directors – The Pang Brothers).  In the original version, the hit-man is a deaf Thai man.  Many of the same scenes and themes were used in both films.  The Pang brothers also directed The Eye which was also remade and starred the sexy Jessica Alba (yummy). 

Bangkok Dangerous has a 100 minute runtime, with a budget of $45 million, it grossed $42.5 million.  What is strange/funny (odd), the movie debuted at #1 with a weekend gross of $7 million, which is one of the lowest debuts for a # movie (Dickie Robert: Former Child Star) is the other lucky winner (loser).  The critics bashed the movie for it’s depressing ending and bloody finale, I didn’t enjoy the ending but whatever, the dude was a contract killer, they don’t go to heaven, get over it…I did.