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19 out of 22 people found the following review useful: A Nutshell Review: Bangkok Dangerous, 23 October 2005 Author: DICK STEEL from Singapore
I picked up this DVD because I've been to Bangkok couple of times, and wanted to see how the filmmakers Oxide and Danny Pang manage to capture the more sleazy side of the city, and combine it with gangster noir to come up with Bangkok Dangerous. I've heard about the movie, and was surprised that our National Library actually had this DVD in its collection.Bangkok Dangerous tells the story of a deaf mute assassin Kong (Pawalit Mongkolpisit). His is a life of mission after mission, a cold and professional, though small time, killer. Growing up being bullied because of his disability, he finds work at a gun range as a cleaner, until he chances upon Joe (Pisek Intrakanchit) and his girlfriend Aom (Patharawarin Timkul). Kong learns his skills from Joe (in an excellent montage), and together, form a tag-team partnership.During the course of work, Kong chances upon the beautiful Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha) who works at a drugstore, and in between missions, he romances Fon, who doesn't shun him in spite of being a deaf mute. The killer has finally known what it is to develop feelings and to love.However, if you live by the gun, chances are there will be those who are after you. Things change for the worse when Aom offends one of the gang's ranked member, and gets raped. Joe goes for revenge, but ultimately gets literally betrayed by the hand that feeds. Kong has to decide - to finish what had started and avenge his friends, or to try and begin life anew with the woman he loves, even after she has started to avoid him, knowing what he does for a living.In a cosmopolitan city like Bangkok, this film manages to capture a kaleidoscope of colours, mood, and use various camera angles to its advantage. It contrasts the shady underworld and strip bars, and its pulsating music, with the silent, kind world of love that Kong for the first time experiences when he's with Fon.It's a story of finding one's own morality when living in the midst of violence and sleaze, and the seeking of redemption from a life of sin.Code 3 DVD extras: Filmography of filmmakers and inspiration for the film.
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful: Bangkok Beautiful, 21 August 2003 Author: baku_yaku from Sweden
I Really enjoyed this one. The imagery is beautiful and imaginative, excellent editing and vibrant colors.The cast was good, especially the guy playing Kong, the deaf assassin, he did a fantastic job, showing a full range of emotion without uttering a word. I really felt for the guy. In fact, I completely fail to see how the characters are flat and undeveloped like someone said. True, we don't get their life story, but i found my self really caring for them, they felt sort of real even though you didn't get to know that much about them.That, and the girl playing Kong's love interest is so cute it'll make your eyes hurt...About the action. Some people complain about this not being up to par with John Woo's action choreography, but who said an action flick, just because it's from Asia should have to be about making every shoot-out look like the Swan Lake? This is grittier, more unrehearsed, it's not about looking good firing that gun (even though I'm a big fan of that too).I thought that there was some really smart stuff, where brains won over brawn, watch out for the scene with laser sights at the end. I went "ahhh - Clever!"This is not a perfect movie, it has flaws. I felt the ending to be a bit formulaic, and the whole "violence begets more violence" concept surely is nothing new plotwise, but still, it's not dumb and full of holes like so many other action movies. And it's sooo pretty to watch...
9 out of 13 people found the following review useful: pretty good really, 11 November 2004 Author: awild853 from Norway
I thought it was actually a pretty superior 'hitman' film.If you want full-on action in a style of early John Woo, then no, it is probably not perfect for you, but the directing is excellent, the character development is good, and the idea as original as any other.I liked it, and liked the style particularly. It does borrow a lot from early Woo i guess, but it is borrowing and not stealing. There is enough originality of idea and of direction. The acting is pretty uniformly good as well. The critics in Toronto liked it too. (see awards and nominations)
13 out of 21 people found the following review useful: Mediocre, with occasional flashes of brilliance., 1 September 2004 Author: miztachris from England
Bangkok Dangerous is the story of a lonely mute who becomes a hit-man, partly to avenge himself upon the world that has alienated him. Only when he finds happiness does he realize the full horror of his life.The film boasts some great performances, particularly by Pawalit Mongkolpisit as Kong, the main protagonist. His face is beautiful yet impassive, and his large eyes convey all the strangled emotions of a person unable to communicate with those around him.There are many excellent moments to savour in this film, but the contrived way in which Kong's partner is forced out of retirement is ridiculous. However, despite the generic plot - which at times has a square-peg-round-hole forced feel to it - and the thoroughly predictable narrative progression, the film is actually pretty rewarding. It has a tender humanism at the centre, which gives the film real depth, and there are many moments worth savouring.Score 7/10 (6 is too low, but 7's maybe a little too high)
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful: Cool and composed, 25 May 2006 Author: NukedaFridge from United Kingdom
Bangkok Dangerous I felt was a very stylish, well acted film with themes and, to an extent, a plot that ran along the same lines as alternative assassin flick Leon. Bangkok dangerous forms its protagionist with character interactions but mostly by delving into how he became the cold killer he is through a series of flashbacks which are not integral to the plot or even shown fluently but integral to our understanding of this troubled soul. The camera work in this film is its pro and con, at certain points style, fluidity and technique are all concentrated together to make some memorable scenes whereas occasionally certain shots has failed to impress and look slightly amateurish. The relationships in this film could also have had more focus on them because instead what we have is a series of different characters stories when we should have one large companionship struck by fate, betrayal and love. Warning for anybody watching this soon, the music ranges from OK to terrible and frequently fails to match the action. In conclusion: Pretty good, if actions you're thing then this is you're thing but you'll probably cry you're guts out anyway. Its still quite moving. Plot - 5 Plot Development - 7 Acting - 8 Style - 7 Music - 3 Action - 10 Average - 6.66 Stars
5 out of 7 people found the following review useful: More than an action flick, 12 July 2008 Author: lastliberal from Florida
Here we go again. make a good Asian film and soon Hollywood will come around and ruin it for you. Those who have followed my criticisms of remakes know how I feel. For others, The Departed was a shallow remake of Infernal Affairs.Now, I see that Nickolas Cage is in a remake of this film. Despite the fact that the Pang brothers are directing and writing, it cannot hope to capture what was here.This is not just an action flick. It is so much more. It is the story of a child with hearing and speech impairment that was cruelly taunted by other children. He grew up into a meaningless life and meaningless jobs until someone noticed he has an ability that could be honed to perfection. Sure, he became a hit-man, but someone cared enough to teach and guide him to his potential.Now, with just two friends, Kong (Pawalit Mongkolpisit) was happy. He lived with his teacher (Pisek Intrakanchit), and got assignments from Aom (Patharawarin Timkul). Life was good, but about to get better.He meets Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha) and love enters his life. He is supremely happy. Unfortunately, she learns the truth about his occupation, and he has to do some real soul searching.The streets of Bangkok are a perfect backdrop used to maximum effect by the Pang brothers, and the cast is a group that you can really get close to. This is a story that can never be duplicated by someone from Hollywood, and I am disappointed that they would even try.
7 out of 11 people found the following review useful: A good film with a great visual style., 12 March 2003 Author: Richard Brunton (imdb-update@brunton.org.uk) from Edinburgh, Scotland
A good film with a great visual style. Although I kept finding it hard to overcome the problems a deaf\mute assassin would encounter, it was something that was easily overlooked. Revenge, death and love, what more could a story ask for, and this one delivers it well. As with a lot of good Japanese movies, there is a heavy emphasis on visual style to convey a feeling, action or even thoughts of the characters onscreen, and this is done well here. Added to that is the use of audio to either cover the sound in a scene, or totally ignore it, showing the problems of the assassins' deafness, and yet at no point is this made obvious to the viewer, it's something you just notice. There's no Hollywood here either, and it's well appreciated. Watch this film, it's a good one.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Fantastic Movie, 1 November 2009 Author: scott85 from United States
I really loved this movie, i stayed up late one night to watch it, and this is the Original.. not the remake with nicholas cage. I haven't seen that one yet, i probably will, but i really loved this one, i really felt for the main character, i felt sorry for him that he was deaf, i just kept thinking during the movie, please get back together with Fon, she was so sweet and cute, she was perfect for him, all in all great movie, i am a big movie fan, American and foreign. And for me, this was grade A for a foreign film. Bravooooo. I will admit i cried at the end, why did he have to kill himself, i guess, he would've ended up in prison for life anyway.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Average revenge movie from the fantastic Pang Brother duo, 2 February 2009 Author: DisgorgedMenstrualSludge from Hell
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
I really like the Pang Brothers' films and wanted so much to like this one as much as my expectations coaxed me to, but I am disappointed to report that "Bangkok Dangerous" is a fairly average thriller. Almost every visual set piece inserts a remarkable filming style within every scene along with the brilliant use of color and actors bring a nice flair to the movie which is never an eye sore to look at. No complaints here on the look of this. You can always count of the Pangs for enjoyable imagery, hands-down... The storyline, though sturdy and often violent, really didn't come across as all that "striking" to me, even with the interesting idea of a rogue assassin being deaf and mute. Still, I found "Bangkok Dangerous" especially hard to "get into" and a lot of it tended to drag and come across as much too vague at times. The plot in a nut shell: a handicapped sniper swears revenge on a group of thugs belonging to "the boxing mafia" after they rape his room mate's girlfriend and later KILL the guy himself after his failed shot at revenge. The touching romance between our anti-hero and the cute pharmacist was well played and adds an ever greater amount of sympathy to both of the characters. The problem with a deaf/mute lead, however, restricts any necessary affluence pertaining to the feelings of the character which kind of slowed things down quick as far as depth. So I was a bit bummed that I didn't like this more but it really just presented itself as a typical Asian "revenge" flick (there was a whole LOT of revenge in this) like "Oldboy" and "Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance".
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful: Slow moving, but hey! Strip Clubs!, 2 January 2009 Author: avianskateboards from United States
Besides the action and fun gun fights and the awesome training montage there's another subplot. Love! It sound dorky, but I totally felt for Kong (the main guy) who falls for this pharmacy girl and they start dating awkwardly since he can't hear or talk. She guesses his job is a gas-station man, but he mistakes her "words" for hit-man and he nods. Later when they get jumped by thugs and he saves her by shooting them she freaks out and leaves him. He just saved you! Stupid chick! So he gets depressed and goes back into the hit-man world... Overall a fun slow-action movie that is great for passing time and has a little bit for everyone. Some blood from the fighting, but it's nothing dreadful.
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