Month: February 2009

I watched a few films on the flights from the UK to Bangkok via Abu Dhabi. And in an effort to cram a few more posts on here, you’re going to have to suffer a couple of reviews. Deal with it.

First up is the Nicolas Cage thriller Bangkok Dangerous. I picked it partly for the simple reason as I was heading to Bangkok and also because it’s a city I like and I wanted to see how it was portrayed.

It’s got a very split personality – much like the central character, an assassin who’s pulling off one last suite of jobs before retiring. He breaks a couple of his own rules, including taking on a trainee and a girlfriend. The thing is, the jump from action to romance really jars in places although Cage does a good job of portraying the hick out of water in a strange country in a relationship with a (deaf!) girl from another culture.

Bangkok isn’t portrayed badly, which is a relief. It’s not all seedy and purse snatchers and go-go bars. A lot of the scenery and culture is shown, and the old waterways feature in one action sequence. The Thai actors who appear are all pretty good, too.

However, it does get a little mawkish in places and the ending’s somewhat abrupt while at the same time open.

Worth a watch on an aeroplane, although the violence – I assume – is toned down somewhat. At least the editing is well done, as opposed to the hatchet jobs you see in the Malaysian cinemas.