What. Ever.

I had NO preconceived notions – I didn’t know anything about this film before watching it. And I didn’t make up that only two other people were in the theater when I was there. And as to:

“What Vic and the rest of you naysayers fail to do here is judge the film based on Hong Kong cinema standards”

Um, hello? This was an AMERICAN film made for AMERICAN audiences – why the hell should anyone judge it by Hong Kong Cinema standards?

And I’m not alone… Here:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bangkok_dangerous/

8 out of 86 reviewers thought it was any good at all.

And even at IMDB.com, where “regular” people vote for movies, it only garnered a 5.4/10. Not much higher than what I gave it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814022/

If you enjoyed it, good for you. But don’t go accusing me of writing reviews without having seen the film.

Vic

You can’t figure out how someone could slip into a pool, a deaf person can dance (aside from vibrations, she’s also not blind – there are visual cues that dancers use as well), and can’t even get the cast members correct. So why are we supposed to believe your “review” is accurate if you can’t figure out simple details? This isn’t rocket science, it’s a simple “Retiring Hitman with 1 more Job” formula movie.

There was enough vegetation around the pool to hide in quietly and view the target before actually slipping into the pool, and it doesn’t take that much imagination to figure out other ways Cage could’ve gotten into the pool undetected. You assume that the guard was alive prior to him getting into the pool, or that he was in the pool before the target gets in. All we see is cage swimming toward him – he could’ve easily done a silent kill on the guard and slipped quietly into the pool. Or even if he was there, it was dark enough to hide in a corner or shadow of the pool on the surface.

I agree with Victor’s post that the original ending sucked. I don’t know what it is about the current propensity of films to do European or Asian style crap endings where everyone dies, but here in the States it sucks. We don’t expect that, nor do we prefer or like it, yet it seems more and more directors are going that way. It didn’t surprise me in this film being directed by the Pan’s, but it still sucked. The alternate was much better, and I’m sure they included it for American audiences.

What Vic and the rest of you naysayers fail to do here is judge the film based on Hong Kong cinema standards – Cage has always wanted to do more HK style flicks, having been a fan for most of his life. If you judge the movie based on HK standards, it’s a very good and well produced film. Cage is the only recognizable actor in the cast – it’s similar to Chow Yun Fat doing a movie here in America and being screened in Asia, where he’s the well-known actor but everyone else is an unknown.

Charlie Yeung’s performance as Fon (Cage’s pharmacist girlfriend that betrays him) is fantastic considering she’s not deaf – she fooled me and I’ve been around enough deaf people who use sign language. All of the fight sequences are well done, and none of the actors used in the movie are amateurs of any type – most of the key actors are well-known Asian stars.

Actually screen a movie before writing a “review”. If you actually DID screen this, then I suggest that maybe you should find another line of work or go back to school, because your analysis of the film’s elements isn’t even close to the mark. Critics are supposed to give an unbiased opinion, though these days anything “unbiased” from any media source is a lie or stretch at best. If you can’t be impartial, then do regular writing for any regular newspaper where bias is expected and the norm. People on the ‘net expect more.

I wouldn’t want to say anything more because some of you here might want to see the original and I don’t want to end up writing a spoiler for you.

Ok, fine, there are instances when it works, but overall I don’t like voiceovers used.

Vic

Joe’s girlfriend is played by Charlie Young.

i like nicholas cage but this film just didn’t build any suspense. his tip-over to the good side was just too quick.

Vic

Like I said, overly dramatic. Didn’t like the film or his performance.

We’ll be discussing it tonight on /FilmCast Live at 7PM PST: http://slashfilm.com/live/

Vic

Vic, you mention liking some of Cages’ performance, do you feel that Cage’s acting rose above the script? Perhaps this was just a payday for him..

“How did he manage to hold his breath long enough to accomplish all this and outlast the other guy by far?”
Maybe he pre-breathed pure oxygen for a couple of hours prior to. Of course, even record holders only last around 7-8 minutes.

I can see the logic in using the filtering Daniel, cold would be the mood you would typically go for.

[...] Cage and his ever receding hairline is NOT dangerous at all. Bangkok Dangerous is a flop to say the least. Are you [...]