It's almost here, the September 5, 2008 release of Bangkok Dangerous. The film is directed by twin brothers Oxide and Danny Pang (The Eye) and is based on their 1999 Hong Kong actioner of the same name, which they both co-wrote and directed. The new film sports a screenplay by Jason Richman.
Nicolas Cage stars as Joe, a top assassin who travels to Bangkok where he's to execute four enemies of Surat (Nirattisai Kaljaruek), a ruthless crime boss. Joe hires a street punk and pickpocket named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) to run errands for him. Joe starts to questions his plans and sense of self as he falls under the spell of the city and a local shopgirl.
Cage, of course, is coming off the very successful National Treasure actioners. Personally, my favorite of his performances was his dual role as Castor Troy/Sean Archer in John Woo's Face/Off (1997), which I regard as one of Hollywood's all-time greatest action pictures. So Cage can definitely carry a film in this genre.
And from what I've seen in the trailer and the "Water Bottle Shootout" (see download links below), Bangkok Dangerous looks like it's going to be terrrific: solid, interesting story, an exotic locale, and fantastic set-pieces. Here's hoping it lives up to its promise.
To download the trailer, click here.
You can also download a clip of the "Water Bottle Shootout."
Here's a link to a recent article in The New York Times about the Pang Brothers.
And here's a link to a Bangkok Dangerous article at Wise Kwai's Thai Film Journal.
