Bangkok Dangerous Information

Bangkok Dangerous is a 2008 crime thriller film written and directed by the Pang Brothers, and starring Nicolas Cage. It is a remake of the Pangs' 1999 debut Bangkok Dangerous, a Thai film, for which Cage's production company, Saturn Films, purchased the remake rights. Known by its working title, Big Hit in Bangkok, and also as Time to Kill, it began filming in Bangkok in August 2006, with locations that include Soi Cowboy.

The film was financed by Initial Entertainment Group, with Lionsgate Films acquiring its North America distribution rights. The film was released in North America on September 5, 2008.

Plot

Hitman Joe goes to Bangkok for a month-long assignment, to kill four people for Bangkok ganglord Surat.

He hires pickpocket Kong as his go-between, a condition of the contract being that the gang will never meet Joe. Contracts from the Bangkok gangsters go through Kong via a nightclub dancer, Aom, who becomes romantically involved with Kong.

Joe's first execution is done in traffic with him riding a bike and stopping in front of the car. He then shoots the target with a machine pistol. Originally he plans to kill Kong before he leaves but after Kong gives him information about the second target he begins to train Kong. His second target is a gangster/sexual predator who buys young girls from the North from their parents and sells them for sex. Joe sneaks into the penthouse and kills the target by drowning him in the pool.

Midway through the movie, Joe meets a nameless (possibly 'Rain') deaf pharmacist dancer, with whom he becomes intrigued by after a brief and otherwise unremarkable consultation. Over a whirlwind 1.5 weeks of elephant touching, grunting, unintelligible hand signals, and leaf eating, Joe falls madly for 'Rain' and meets her mother, where it is revealed that she isn't sure of his nationality, job, or name. Unfortunately, the amorous affair is cut short when Joe kills two assailants in 'Rain's' presence.

Before the third kill the gang attempt to identify Joe & he warns them off. For the third execution Kong assists Joe, the kill does not go as planned, with the target nearly getting away before Joe catches him and shoots him after a chase in front of many shocked onlookers.

His fourth target is the Prime Minister of Thailand. Joe is about to make the kill when he has second thoughts, is spotted, and escapes through a panicking crowd. Joe is now a target and is attacked at his house by four gang members. He manages to use explosives to take them out and is faced with the choice of rescuing Kong or leaving the country unharmed. Joe decides to rescue Kong, so he sets off to the gang's headquarters with one of the half-alive attackers.

Joe goes to the gang's headquarters, kills most of the gang and saves Kong and Aom. The fearful gang leader flees to his car with three other accomplices. Joe spots him and shoots the gang members. Joe gets into the back seat with Surat, the gang leader.

As the police arrive at the location, Joe realises he has only one bullet. He puts his head adjacent to Surat's, puts the gun up to his temple and pulls the trigger, killing himself and Surat.

Cast

• Nicolas Cage as Joe
• Shahkrit Yamnarm as Kong
• Charlie Yeung as Fon
• James With as Chicago
• Nirattisai Kaljaruek as Surat
• Panward Hemmanee as Aom

Production

The original film's main character is a deaf hitman, whose disability makes him a fearless, unflinching gunman. That character has been changed in the remake. "We'd like to keep him the same, but we understand that from a marketing point of view Nic needs to have some lines," Oxide was quoted as saying in the New York Times. "So what we're going to do is transform his girlfriend instead into a deaf-mute. This switch will maintain the drama of communication between the two main characters."

Reception

The film received mostly negative reviews. As of December 13, the film has a 9% approval rating based on 86 reviews from critics at the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Based on the bloody finale and depressing conclusion, Ross Fleming, British reviewer in Hong Kong, sarcastically referred to the film as 'the feel-good movie of the year'. At the website Metacritic, which utilizes a normalized rating system, the film earned a rating of 24 out of 100 based on 16 reviews.

Box office

The film has grossed US$40,732,950, of which $15,298,133 was from the US. However, the film grossed US$7.8 million on its opening weekend making this the first film since Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star to debut at number 1 with such a low gross. Lionsgate distribution topper Steve Rothenberg said, "It will be a nicely profitable film for us."

Home media release

Bangkok Dangerous was released on DVD and Blu-ray on January 6, 2009. As of December 1, 2009, 760,178 units have been sold, gathering US$15,058,164 in revenue.