To be honest, who in their right mind would care about assassins unless they started to have existential and ethical problems about their jobs and started to seek the solace of normal human relationships? Hence, we are familiar with the generic formula of humanizing the dehumanized demons of society. Is it not getting a bit old?
Apparently not. Hong Kong's Pang brothers present us with the Hollywood remake of their 1997 thriller "Bangkok Dangerous." This time, starring Nicholas Cage (also one of the producers) as the philosophically perturbed professional killer, the film aims for ample returns from the international box office.

We meet Joe (Nicholas Cage), or more like he introduces himself, with a weary voiceover as he sits by himself in a restaurant: "I do what I do, the pay is good, but I'm searching for an exit strategy." The man has grown weak; looking at Cage's arched eyebrows forming their trademark "City of Angels" celestial expression, you're almost about to feel sorry for the guy.

Well, almost, because then you remember that Cage must be making tons of money in real life. Nevertheless, for the sake of his retirement pension, Joe decides to take one last job in Bangkok, where he is commissioned to kill the four big guns of the Thai mafia.

Arriving in the hustling and bustling Bangkok, Joe shares with us his profound concerns about the Far Eastern city: "This is a dirty, decaying place." Wow. He immediately hires an errand boy named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) and gets to business. Joe moves like a ghost-snake in the dark as he takes out his first two targets. But Kong soon understands what Joe does for a living and asks him to take him as his apprentice because he thinks Joe kills only bad guys.

Although Joe at first considers killing Kong, he realizes that he has taken a liking toward his beguiling openness and decides to become his personal Master Miyage -- or call it Obi-Wan Kenobi if you must. Meanwhile, Joe meets a beautiful Thai pharmacist, who happens to be mute and deaf, and begins courting her. Whether he's fascinated by her beauty or the fact that she is mute is never clear.

As you can imagine, Joe has already become a softie with those occupationally hazardous emotions such as love and friendship, and he starts fumbling in the process of killing his last two targets. Consequently, those who have hired him are not happy in the least, and when Joe cannot bring himself to kill his last target, who turns out to be a good man, all hell is unleashed in the mean streets of Bangkok.

Can Joe be reborn as a normal human being or are these his final moments? Or perhaps the ultimate question should be: Will Cage ever get back to serious acting, or will he continue to take on such projects where he can get away with minimal acting?

The original "Bangkok Dangerous" was intriguing because the main assassin character was deaf and mute, not his pharmacist lady friend. But thankfully, in the current remake, the Pang brothers once again display their artistry in capturing suspenseful action scenes and well-crafted martial arts choreography while creatively using the backdrop of exotic Bangkok locations. The editing never lags behind, and the chase sequences put you on the edge of your seat.

Let's not forget the partial nudity, which will undoubtedly bring in the young male audience demographic. If there is some kind of real human element in this film, it's radiated by sidekick Yamnarm, who contributes his charm and generous wit to a film in which humor is constantly sidetracked by the endless moaning and groaning of Cage's character.

"Bangkok Dangerous" delivers the verisimilitude that is expected of Asian action cinema, but a bit of substance regarding the story would have been nice. In the end, we don't at all care for the main protagonist, whose personal dilemma is supposed to make us feel deeply involved. It's time to revisit Besson's "Leon" -- at least Jean Reno made me cry every time.

Todays Zaman