Synopsis:

The life of an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, instead finds himself mentoring the young man while simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house.

Our Thoughts:

A while ago, I read an article somewhere that said that Jeff Bridges has more box office mojo when he keeps his hair longer.

Whether or not that’s true, I couldn’t say, but the opposite seems to be the case for Nicolas Cage. Aside from Con Air, his long-haired dos - including the one in Next (2007) - have tended to dissuade the crowds a bit from flocking to see his films in theater (of course, they tend to come back for the DVD, but…)

If that’s the case, Lionsgate may be in for a disappointment with Bangkok Dangerous, as Nic again sports the lengthier hairstyle.

Since I thoroughly enjoyed Next (2007) and some of his other shaggier roles, the length of his hair in Bangkok Dangerous doesn’t dissuade me in the least.

Still, there are other factors that may bring down the box office receipts on this one, namely the lack of other name recognition in the film, may delegate this one to DVD status for many. And, as not many Americans venture into the Thai film world, The Pang Brothers previous directorial attempts will also have gone largely unnoticed, so the directors aren’t going to be drawing in a big crowd either.

Still, with Nic in the title role, and a preview slightly reminiscent of the Chow Yun-Fat starrer The Replacement Killers (1998), this one should still generate some interest in theaters.

But, with all the big name movies hitting theaters this summer, this one will probably slide under most moviegoer’s radar…at least until it hits DVD.

Whether giving this one a miss is a good thing, however, remains to be seen.

 

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