Bangkok Dangerous

Rating:
Summary: A good movie with a great ending
Review: This movie played a little slow, but I gave it a chance and wasn't disappointed. It covers the path of a mute assassin in an artsy blend of colors and unique special effects. Sometimes it seems like its trying too hard, but at other times it is more than impressive. There are many unlikable qualities to the movie, with the average acting, the artsy attempts, slow dialogue, and music that is very far from american mainstream, but considering it is a foreign film I found it more than tolerable. The ending gives the movie a message, a theme, and is very impacting and makes you think about it. The camera shots are either vague or direct, with little in between, and this gives a completely different style and pace to the action scenes, which can be at times a hint away from excellence. A movie of revenge, lost hope, and broken opportunities, this movie would have gotten five stars were it not so erratic and long. It is considered an action movie, but it's an action movie the way Leon The Professional is an action movie. I definetly recommend this to anyone who has seen Fallen Angels, and has a little patience.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty lousy overall
Review: When this film first started, I was with it for about five minutes. The opening credit sequence and the several scenes immediately following it were quite good, and I held out hope that the rest of the film would follow suit. No such luck, no even close. Bangkok Dangerous is self-consciously artsy in the Wong Kar-Wai vein without having any of the substance that description would imply, overly corny in the John Woo vein without having characters we care about to make such corniness forgivable or even necessary to the story, etc. This movie is just a mess. There are some okay moments sprinkled throughout, including a rather humorous date between the mute hero and his newfound girlfriend. But they're very few and very far between. This movie is not only fairly dull and lifeless, but also about 130 minutes long. The film is being sold as a kinetic action thriller crossed with 'Fallen Angels', but that's completely inaccurate. I've never seen a film TRY so hard to be that, but end up so inert and sleep-inducing.