“Bangkok Dangerous” is an action flick in Hitman genre which is a very good debut by the Pang brothers, who then gained their names bigger with their sophomore work on “The Eye”. With the film, the brothers are painted an explosive picture of the Bangkok underworld, illuminated with neon and saturated in violence, and going all the way with a very realistic action and as a result they had presented us every gunshot and pool of forming blood. Although, they also have all the conventions of the Hitman Genre down with a quite little variation, everything just seems as lifted directly from John Woo’s “The Killer,” which was itself probably lifted from some other Hitman film. But how after this Thailand’s big hit has transform into a Hollywood’s bigger budget remake? It'll be interesting to see how it compares, and how the film actually plays out, but from the trailer, it’s absolutely not looking bad and this is might be will become a good return for the twin directors after their first Hollywood’s effort in somewhat playground genre, “The Messengers” doesn’t become what they had expected to be. Also with a little luck, possibly it also will have people thinking again about the fact that the Pang Brothers aren't just about horror.
About this rare opportunity to recreate their own film, one of the twin directors, Oxide Pang have something to say, “We thought it would be an interesting challenge to update the concept after more than six years, and we were able to take the same concept, the same idea, refine it considerably and bring it to a bigger audience.” While the remake looks to have some diversity from the original, especially with the main character that now performed by Nicholas Cage who actually talks in the film versus a deaf-mute hitman character as the original story goes, landing a star of Cage's caliber was absolutely an enormous boost for the film. But once again the twist of the character in this remake also raised interesting questions about the best way to adapt the script. Just like what have said that in the original version film, Joe actually suffer on deaf and mute-disabilities which underscore his isolation. “We had seen a lot of movies about killers and we thought they were wasting too much time talking,” explains Oxide. “We thought that in reality, a killer wouldn't speak a lot, he would need to focus all his time and attention on his target. The idea of a deaf mute killer came from that.” But however, even Joe is not deaf-mute in this remake version, the character's isolation absolutely not comes from the physical limitation but from his inability to speak Thai and his unfamiliarity with the local culture. “We decided that coming to Bangkok as a westerner and not speaking the language created a similar distance between Joe and his surroundings. Thai is such a hard language to pick up, you're almost as lost as if you can't speak or hear.”

This time around, “Bangkok Dangerous” is about the life of an anonymous assassin who takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit 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, finds himself mentoring the young man instead whilst 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.
In a reference to the original film though, here also will include a deaf-mute character – Fon (performed by Hong Kong famous actress Charlie Young). Fon is a beautiful young woman, whose instant connection with Joe underscores their mutual isolation especially because of the difficulty of communication from both sides. “I really like the bond between Nic's character and Fon,” says the screenwriter, Jason Richman, writer of the 2002 action comedy “Bad Company,” starring Chris Rock and Anthony Hopkins. “It's a unique relationship-a sincere love story-and it was great fun to work on.”

The Killer-Meter: 7/10

Facts around the trip to Bangkok:
- Nicholas Cage, an aficionado of Asian cinema who had worked with Hong Kong action maestro John Woo on the hit film “Face/Off,” was already an admirer of the Pang Brothers' work in general and of “Bangkok Dangerous” in particular.
- From the project's inception, the film’s producers felt there was only one actor who could do justice to the role of Joe. “We had Nicolas Cage in mind for Joe while we were developing the script,” says William Sherak. “The character of Joe does not have a lot of dialogue, so we needed an actor who could use his aura and inner life to convey emotions. Nic is perfect for that.”
- In addition to sign language that she must learn to play Fon character, Charlie Young also had to learn how to perform a well known traditional Thai dance.
- Nirattisai Kaljareuk, a well-known Thai actor and director, plays the vicious gangster Surat who hires Joe, without ever meeting him, to slay his enemies. “I studied for the role by watching a lot of mafia movies. Surat is so completely opposite to who I am in real life-it was a great deal of fun to be that evil.”
- The Pang Brothers made every effort to present an accurate depiction of modern Thailand without romanticizing or mythologizing it.
- All in all, the film used about 47 locations in Bangkok and nearby provinces, including the city's red light district, parks, squatter settlements, business centers, the Chao Phraya's river banks and luxurious five-star hotel suites.
- One of the most exciting scenes in this movie is also one of the most picturesque, being set in a location unique to Thailand: the Damnoen Saduak Floating Market. “The floating market is spectacular; it's a magical place for an action scene,” says Sherak. “Western audiences aren't used to seeing anything like it, unless it's a set, but we didn't change anything. There are people really there with those grocery carts and those little boats and that's how they live every day.”
- The picture was shooting during the 19th September Coup d'etat. Nonetheless, filming only stopped for six hours. The Armoury department claims they fired the only shots in the coup.

Budget: Around $45 millions
Opening Prediction: $ 20 millions
Domestic Gross Prediction: $ 60 millions

Theatrical Release Dates:
August 22, 2008: Spain // Aug 27: France // Sept 3-5: Belgium, Hong Kong, Netherlands, Russia, UK, USA // Sept 11: Singapore, South Korea // Sept 19: Norway // Oct 3: Finland // Oct 24: Brazil // Nov 28: Poland

The hitman diaries: Hitman, Smokin’ Aces, The Bourne series, Leon the Professional, The Assassins, The Killer

(Writing Source: Movie Central, IMDB – Photos courtesy of Saturn Films)