This review may have mild spoilers but they come through implication and aren't explicit, in short, your viewing of the film shouldn't be ruined by anything written here. This was, surprisingly, a very interesting action and character piece from Nicholas Cage. I generally find his work either very good or cheesily over the top. In 'Bangkok Dangerous' he delivers an under-stated and nuanced performance as a hit-man who has withdrawn from humanity for so long that when he steps back in, the personal and professional consequences are tremendous. To survive as a hit-man he's lived by a set of rules. Finding a major contract for four jobs in Bangkok leads to deep, personal revelations when his strict adherence to those rules starts to peel away. Cage's character Joe says at one point that the only way for him to do the job is to withdraw from humanity. He leaves no trace that he's ever existed, finds no acknowledgment from other human beings and exists only as the wind. Humanity "... starts to look like a different species" and he only comes out to study people for brief moments before withdrawing again to remind himself that they aren't. So what happens when he goes to Bangkok and the culture is so alien to him that he can't help be drawn into it?
There were a number of things I really liked about the movie. The exotic location is matched with beautiful cinematography and luxuriant sets. The colours, the atmosphere and dark vibrance of the city at night is in stunning contrast to Joe's spartan and non-descript apartment: white walls and brown tables. The Pangs did an excellent job of drawing the audience into the same intoxicating world that Joe is drawn into. The sights in the markets, the sounds in the clubs and in the streets (and the wonderfully engaging score), the taste of the food and the smell of the city -- these all leapt out. The Pangs direction here is, in my opinion, some of their best work. Joe's hits are tense and well set up. In one particularly horrific action scene, the camera looks up at Joe who has just dispatched his target, Joe who stands even in shock at himself for the brutal killing, Joe who realizes that killing has moral complexity since his humanity has reawakened. The camera lingers on Joe for an eternity, shock and awe in the audience; shock and awe as he realizes what he is.
So how does it happen? Is it the city that draws in him? Partially, but he's been in other exotic cities. Is it the sidekick and messenger he's hired on to be an errand boy? Partially. Joe reveals a soft spot when he sees that the sidekick goes above and beyond what he has been asked to do in order to protect Joe during an attempted robbery. Is it when he is first troubled in the film by his rule to leave no traces of himself? Is it when he makes a connection with a beautiful deaf pharmacist? Joe's survival in his career has been from dehumanizing himself from the rest of the species. Bangkok is dangerous to him because of the jobs he has taken and the people who have contracted him but Bangkok is also dangerous because he recovers part of himself. People who genuinely care about Joe crack the armour, at once strengthening and destroying.
Is it a nihilistic film? On a superficial and literal level, yes, 'Bangkok Dangerous' is a nihilistic film about a guy who kills for a living. Much deeper is the understanding of how we are all shaped by our choices but how redemption and rebirth are possible -- even in the most unlikely of anti-heroes.
There were a number of things I really liked about the movie. The exotic location is matched with beautiful cinematography and luxuriant sets. The colours, the atmosphere and dark vibrance of the city at night is in stunning contrast to Joe's spartan and non-descript apartment: white walls and brown tables. The Pangs did an excellent job of drawing the audience into the same intoxicating world that Joe is drawn into. The sights in the markets, the sounds in the clubs and in the streets (and the wonderfully engaging score), the taste of the food and the smell of the city -- these all leapt out. The Pangs direction here is, in my opinion, some of their best work. Joe's hits are tense and well set up. In one particularly horrific action scene, the camera looks up at Joe who has just dispatched his target, Joe who stands even in shock at himself for the brutal killing, Joe who realizes that killing has moral complexity since his humanity has reawakened. The camera lingers on Joe for an eternity, shock and awe in the audience; shock and awe as he realizes what he is.
So how does it happen? Is it the city that draws in him? Partially, but he's been in other exotic cities. Is it the sidekick and messenger he's hired on to be an errand boy? Partially. Joe reveals a soft spot when he sees that the sidekick goes above and beyond what he has been asked to do in order to protect Joe during an attempted robbery. Is it when he is first troubled in the film by his rule to leave no traces of himself? Is it when he makes a connection with a beautiful deaf pharmacist? Joe's survival in his career has been from dehumanizing himself from the rest of the species. Bangkok is dangerous to him because of the jobs he has taken and the people who have contracted him but Bangkok is also dangerous because he recovers part of himself. People who genuinely care about Joe crack the armour, at once strengthening and destroying.
Is it a nihilistic film? On a superficial and literal level, yes, 'Bangkok Dangerous' is a nihilistic film about a guy who kills for a living. Much deeper is the understanding of how we are all shaped by our choices but how redemption and rebirth are possible -- even in the most unlikely of anti-heroes.