Film Reviews

Bangkok Dangerous (1999)

• Rating:
• Director: Oxide and Danny Pang.
• Starring: Pawalit Mongkolpisit, Premsinee Ratanasopha, Patharawarin Timkul, Pissek Intrakanchit, Piya Boonnak.
• Details: Thai / 105 mins / No Cert).

One of the few brave (read as: foolhardy) films to open on the same day as the latest Star Wars movie, 'Bangkok Dangerous' is a violent and stylish action thriller, heavily influenced by the early output of John Woo. Directed by the siblings, Oxide and Danny Pang, the movie's main character is Kong (Pawalit Mongkolpisit) a deaf mute hit man, whose disability helps him to carry out his job with ruthless efficiency. Although his girlfriend, Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha) is completely unaware of his job, when his friend and mentor is murdered, Kong seeks out to wreak revenge. Thematically, 'Bangkok Dangerous' doesn't exactly deviate radically from the formula you've come to associate with these types of films, but this is a stylish, well shot, if very derivative, fare. The action scenes are all executed with panache (even if the brothers can hardly lay claim to much originality) and the actors acquit themselves reasonably well.

Review by Garreth Murphy