At least to most men, Bangkok is never dangerous. Only the wives of men who frequent Bangkok have the reason to fear for its danger. Bangkok is notoriously known for its brand of entertainment and night life, but never in any imaginable terms has it been associated with rampant mob crime and violence. That is until professional hitman Joe (Nicolas Cage) arrived from Prague for a killing spree. This is Cage's latest movie, a remake of 1999 Thai movie of the same title. His job, as contracted by local gang lord Surat, was to assassinate four of his enemies, including the Prime Minister of Thailand. Joe planned it to be his last assignment and retire to a peaceful life with the huge earnings.To maintain his anonymity with Surat and his men, he paid a local pick-pocket punk Kong to run errands for him, discreetly planning to eliminate him at the end, in the same way as the others. The young Thai actor adds a comical flavor to the otherwise serious and fast-paced action tone of the entire movie. He did pretty well considering he was acting side by side with Nicolas Cage. Surprisingly, Joe turned softer towards Kong, even becoming his mentor on self-defense after Kong was mugged while doing his errands. Suddenly, he was not the pure cold-blooded killer anymore. Was it because of his planned retirement? Or was it because he was falling in love with a deaf-mute girl in a local pharmacy?
The remorseless Joe was slowly transforming in Bangkok to a conscientious person. He learned to distinguish good over evil and for the first time saw an opportunity to love and be loved. All this while he knew nothing else but to kill for the money. Perhaps, Kong played a big role in his realization. While watching a TV news about the Prime Minister, Kong told Joe that he is like the Prime Minister. He kills the bad guys and he helps the poor, that's why the Prime Minister is well-loved by the poor. These words deeply affected him, especially knowing later that his fourth and last assignment was to assassinate the Prime Minister.
As a professional hitman, Joe followed four rules, always. One, don't ask questions. Two, don't be interested in people you work with. Three, eliminate all your tracks. Four, know when to leave. However, he broke the first three in Bangkok, and by the time he realized it's time to apply rule four, it was a little bit too late.
This is not Nicolas Cage's best movie but he, of course, gave an intense acting performance here. It's a good watch though if you are interested in action thrillers. I love the funny conversations between Joe and Kong, when they were starting their partnership.
