Review of Bangkok Dangerous (2008) by Chads. — 05 Sep 2008

Too soon. Comedian Bill Maher criticized America too soon after 9/11 and he lost his show. From his nightly electronic soapbox, the former host of "Politically Incorrect" deemed the millitary decision to deploy long-range missles on Baghdad, instead of sending ground troups to go "a mano a mano" with their Iraqi counterparts, as a cowardly act.

In "Bangkok Dangerous", on American soil, the assassin kills his target from afar. In Maher's estimation, this makes Joe(Nicholas Cage) a coward. Thailand is a different matter, however, as the existentialist sociopath gets up close and personal with those individuals, bad guys all, designated for execution; and those who die due to happenstance, or circumstance.

Joe's willingness to man up against his opposition makes him a hero, according to the host of "Real Time with Bill Maher". But the fourth man on his Thai employer's directive is a politician, a good man that Kong(Shahkrit Yamnam), Joe's assistant, describes as being just like his boss.

This hit is like the hit he performed back home; from long range. Joe aborts the mission; he's unwilling to spill innocent blood. But that's beside the point. Accidents can happen, in the pursuit of justice, and the pure of heart die anyway(i.

E. the shop girl gets tainted by the blood of Joe's assailants, a metaphor for collateral damage). By air, or on the ground, it doesn't matter how we fight Iraq. They're not our enemy. The Thai people, good or bad, aren't Joe's enemy either.

It's all relative if Joe kills or doesn't kill because the American is a stranger in a strange land, and should get the hell out. Imaginary political subtext aside, "Bangkok Dangerous" has the look of a fever dream, a film that take place largely in the dark, and scores points for its unwillingness to look like the glossy remake of a foreign exploitation flick.

It's as if Cage caught the 1999 Thai original on late-night cable, dozed off, and inserted himself as the lead using his mind's EYE.