Having grown up in the 1990s I never thought that a decade like the 90s would ever have a “style” that anybody could really pinpoint or identify. It seemed like a combination of the past three decades only without the risks and edge that made those decades stand out. But it’s not until I see a movie like ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ that I realize that the 90s really did have a style, a distinct one at that. I know this because as I watched this movie with my head resting on my hand, I realized that film would’ve been a lot better in the 90s. It has all the style, all the lines, and all the storytelling elements that seemed new back then, but seem tired by today’s standards.

The film stars Nicholas Cage as a professional assassin simply named Joe. He travels to Bangkok to take care of four assassinations all commissioned by the same man. He hires a pick-pocket named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) to act as the messenger between Joe and the man commissioning the assassinations so that he never has to meet them. Why? Because Joe lives by a series of rules, one of them being “Don’t get attached to anyone.” As you can imagine though, Joe does get attached, not just to his ambitious messenger, but also to a young deaf woman named Fon (Charlie Yeung), who works in a Bangkok pharmacy. Even though cage doesn’t know sign language and Fon doesn’t read lips, they manage to pull off quite a few romantic dates, despite the fact that neither has any idea what the other is saying.

His messenger Kong, on the other hand, is at first a threat because he knows too much about Joe’s occupation. But rather than kill him like he has his past messengers, Joe decides to train him, and help him become his own blood thirsty assassin. He does this because apparently Kong reminds Joe of himself as a young man, even though he never explains how or why. Of course as Joe gets too attached to these people, things get out of hand. The man who commissioned the assassinations gets impatient with all the secrecy, his love for Fon starts to interfere with his work, and Kong becomes a hostage in order to control Joe. Joe gets angry, goes after bad guys, and realizes he should have spent his life getting personal with people instead of killing them. Pretty predictable.

If this film was released a decade earlier perhaps I would recommend it, but because it comes out in 2008, all the plot devices seem tired and overused. The style is of the film is shot in that “Hit and run” method of shooting, with clips sped up, fast speed editing, and a lot of over exposure. The plot is right out of a 90s film, where the assassin is the anti-hero who turns traditional hero at the end. The dialogue is nothing special, the performances are standard, and nothing is new. If a film has nothing fresh to offer or doesn’t develop a classic formula into something different, then why go see it? Now with that said ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ is not necessarily a bad movie, it’s just been done already on several occasions. Looking at the film I was constantly reminded of films like ‘Payback’ or’ Blade,’ movies that showed anti-heroes in blue, grainy cities breaking that one single rule that would of course make them more emotionally aware.

One of the reasons this film may suffer from this is because this film WAS made in the 90s, at least the original was. This film is a remake of a 1999 Asian movie under the same name and directed by the same people (the Pang brothers). I have to admit I have not seen the original 1999 release, so I cannot compare it to this new one. However, both have one thing in common, they were both made with the 90s in mind, the only difference is one came out in the 90s and the other did not. I suppose anyone who likes those kind of films will enjoy this one, but if another exists that was actually released at the appropriate time, you may want to check that one out first.

So who will like it? I suppose if you’re looking for an average 90s thriller with no big turns or surprises, you may enjoy this.

Who won’t enjoy it? Anyone looking for something new or refreshing to the action thriller genre will probably not find it here. It’s pretty much a repeat of all the action/thrillers you’ve seen in the past.

My thoughts? ‘Bangkok Dangerous’ isn’t a horrible movie, it’s just very dated. My thought is that if a movie has nothing new to show me, it’s not worth seeing. There’s nothing really bad or annoying in the film, but there’s nothing that makes it stand on its own either. At the end of the movie, there’s a scene where a main character (I won’t say who) holds a gun to his head and debates whether or not he should pull the trigger. Ten years ago I might have cared about that character in this scene, but as of today I couldn’t care less. Film is an evolving art, with the idea being it’s always good to incorporate what works from the past, but always mix it with what’s new in the future.

Douglas Darien is a featured writer for Xomba.com. Read the rest of his work here or visit his website www.thatguywiththeglasses.com.