On the Big Board |
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Staff |
In Brief |
| 174/196 |
Max Braden |
Between this and Next it's a wonder Cage isn't going direct to video. |
Nicolas Cage sure likes to star in remakes. Gone in 60 Seconds, City of Angels, The Wicker Man. Heck, he’s even been announced to play Harvey Keitel’s role in Werner Herzog’s remake of Bad Lieutenant. Bangkok Dangerous is yet another remake, this time of a well-regarded Thai action movie by brothers Danny and Oxide Pang.
The original movie centers on a deaf-mute hitman and how he rises through the ranks of the underground to make a name for himself. The hitman’s disability is a pretty vital part of the story, but it’s mostly been scrapped for the remake. The Pang Brothers, who also directed this new version, opted to make Cage’s girlfriend the deaf-mute, fearing that a no-talking Cage would not be good for the box office.
All I can say is “really?” Everything else about this story is fairly generic, and seems like something we’ve seen a hundred times. The deaf-mute aspect was the gimmick that made the first film work - a hitman who couldn’t hear his targets begging for mercy. That’s an interesting twist, and without it, Cage’s Bangkok Dangerous looks awfully forgettable.
The Pang Brothers are expert stylists, having directed the Hong Kong version of The Eye, as well as last year’s The Messengers, so it should at least be visually interesting. Cage is possibly the most all-over-the-map actor working today, fluctuating wildly between big hits (the National Treasure movies, Ghost Rider) and epic failures (Wicker Man, Lord of War). With its ho-hum trailer and shrug-worthy premise, Bangkok Dangerous has its work cut out for it to avoid becoming one of the latter. (Shane Jenkins/BOP)
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