CNET Networks Entertainment GameSpot | GameFAQs | SportsGamer | Metacritic | MP3.com | TV.com
Home | About Metacritic | About Metascores | What's New | Wireless Versions | Discussion Forums | Advertising Inquiries | Contact Us | RSS
Metacritic.com: We Deal With Criticism
     Help
> Switch to Advanced Search  
Film Video/DVD Music Games TV

Film

Upcoming Release Calendar
Weekend Box Office
Film Awards & Top 10s By Year
All-Time High Scores
All-Time Low Scores
How Metascores Are Calculated
Discuss Film In Our Forums

 

Wide Releases

sort by name sort by score

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 

Limited Releases

sort by name sort by score

xx All of Us
53 Allah Made Me Funny: Live in Concert
57 Amazing Truth About Queen Raquela, The
64 Appaloosa
69 Ashes of Time Redux
68 August Evening
xx B.O.H.I.C.A.
62 Baghead
84 Ballast
54 Battle in Seattle
xx Beer for My Horses
75 Betrayal - Nerakhoon, The
xx Billy: The Early Years
66 Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story
56 Bottle Shock
55 Boy in the Striped Pajamas, The
50 Breakfast with Scot
61 Brick Lane
43 Call and Response
62 Changeling
49 Children of Huang Shi, The
47 Choke
46 Choose Connor
84 Christmas Tale, A
41 Cthulhu
81 Dear Zachary: A Letter to a Son About His Father
xx Dostana
62 Duchess, The
44 Dukes, The
63 Eden
xx Eden Lake
66 Elegy
46 Elephant King, The
80 Encounters at the End of the World
26 Everybody Wants to Be Italian
64 Fall, The
69 Fear(s) of the Dark
26 Filth and Wisdom
28 Fireproof
52 First Basket, The
67 Flow: For Love of Water
37 Forever Strong
69 Frontrunners
82 Frozen River
43 Gardens of the Night
73 Girl Cut in Two, A
73 Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
54 Good Dick
30 Guitar, The
84 Happy-Go-Lucky
44 Henry Poole is Here
31 Hounddog
27 House of the Sleeping Beauties
47 How About You
54 Humboldt County
72 I Served the King of England
70 I.O.U.S. A
40 Igor
64 In Search of a Midnight Kiss
78 I've Loved You So Long
63 JCVD
41 Johnny Got His Gun
xx Just Buried
62 Kabluey
63 Kit Kittredge: An American Girl
27 Lake City
78 Last Mistress, The
81 Let the Right One In
xx Lower Learning
63 Man Named Pearl, A
89 Man on Wire
xx Mary
xx Matador, The
62 Mister Foe
84 Momma's Man
51 Morning Light
79 Moving Midway
33 My Name Is Bruce
59 Nights and Weekends
73 Obscene
40 Other End of the Line, The
34 Otto; or Up with Dead People
40 Passengers
xx Phoebe in Wonderland
55 Ping Pong Playa
75 Pool, The
77 Pray the Devil Back to Hell
82 Rachel Getting Married
56 Religulous
32 Repo! The Genetic Opera
xx Roadside Romeo
53 RocknRolla
56 Save Me
74 Secret, A
45 Shoot on Sight
57 Sixty Six
84 Slumdog Millionaire
52 Special
58 Splinter
79 Stranded: I Have Come from a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains
67 Synecdoche, New York
82 Tell No One
64 Thousand Years of Good Prayers, A
57 Towelhead
72 Transsiberian
83 Trouble the Water
43 Tru Loved
83 U2 3D
61 Universe of Keith Haring
84 Up the Yangtze
52 Virtual JFK: Vietnam If Kennedy Had Lived
79 Visitor, The
61 Wackness, The
59 We Are Wizards
55 What Just Happened?
66 When Did You Last See Your Father?

Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.

 



Printer-Friendly Version Email This Page Discuss In Our Forums

Bangkok Dangerous
Lionsgate

Bangkok Dangerous reviews
Critic Score
Metascore: 24 Metascore out of 100
User Score  
5.6 out of 10
based on 16 reviews
Read critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
based on 18 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie

MPAA RATING: R for violence, language and some sexuality

Starring Nicolas Cage, Shahkrit Yamnarm, Charlie Yeung, Panward Hemmanee, Nirattisai Kaljaruek, and Dom Hetrakul

The life of an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe, a remorseless hit man, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong, a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, instead finds himself mentoring the young man while simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok's intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard... just as Surat decides it's time to clean house. (Lionsgate)


GENRE(S): Action  |  Crime  |  Suspense/Thriller  
WRITTEN BY: Danny Pang (1999 film)
Oxide Pang Chun (1999 film)
Jason Richman
 
DIRECTED BY: Oxide Pang Chun
Danny Pang
 
RELEASE DATE: Theatrical: September 5, 2008 
RUNNING TIME: 100 minutes, Color 
ORIGIN: USA 

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

60
The Hollywood Reporter Stephen Farber
Bangkok won't be making any appearances at the Oscars, but it is executed with skill and -- a severed limb or two notwithstanding -- without too much bloody excess.
Read Full Review
50
Variety Jordan Mintzer
Without the technical nastiness and fatal realism that made the initial film so compelling, the remake feels like a hollow excuse to present the myriad ways in which a bullet can pierce a cranium, rather than an edgy portrait of Third World violence.
Read Full Review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Stephen Cole
Doesn't work because it isn't much of a ride. The action scenes are strictly by rote. The incidental characters are all incidental.
Read Full Review
40
The New Yorker Anthony Lane
Parts of Bangkok Dangerous, far from seeming unfamiliar or freshly stylized, offer nothing that you couldn't catch in an episode of "CSI."
Read Full Review
40
Chicago Reader Joshua Katzman
While the film includes several exciting, creatively shot action scenes, the drama is otherwise so shopworn that the violent climax is a relief.
Read Full Review
40
Los Angeles Times Michael Ordona
Pretty much all the things that made the original so original are filtered out of this un-original.
Read Full Review
40
Film Threat Stina Chyn
I didn't hate this film. I didn't find it to be a waste of time or brain waves. Given the reasons I saw the film, I suppose I'm 50% disappointed.
Read Full Review
30
The New York Times Nathan Lee
Of all the shoddy, insipid qualities of Bangkok Dangerous, the most egregious is the most fundamental: The film is simply dreadful to look at.
Read Full Review
30
Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
I'm beginning to suspect there's some sort of ancient, or at least post-Pearl Harbor, curse in play that stops genre-oriented Asian filmmakers from creating anything of all but the most negligible merit once they hit the California shore.
Read Full Review
25
Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand
As a cinematic experience, it's like being locked in a coffin for an hour and a half.
Read Full Review
25
The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin
Dimly lit, emotionally empty, and devoid of thrills, Bangkok Dangerous should disappoint Cage fans looking for Wicker Man-style camp thrills just as thoroughly as action buffs looking for a passable thriller. It's never close to good, and it can't even get bad right.
Read Full Review
25
TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
A morose, slow-moving action picture.
Read Full Review
20
New York Daily News Joe Neumaier
Adds to the sad realization that this once-vibrant and witty actor (Cage) is completely controlled now by his inner teenager.
Read Full Review
20
LA Weekly Tim Grierson
Another of those dopey crime thrillers where the hardcore, bad-ass antihero inexplicably decides one day to lower his guard and open his heart, causing all kinds of hell to break loose.
Read Full Review
12
Boston Globe Wesley Morris
Bangkok Dangerous is bad without lifting a finger toward interesting. The trouble with it is that the people who've made it don't appear to understand life enough to allow any of it into their movie. This is an airless affair.
Read Full Review
0
Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The filmmakers even manage to turn seamy Bangkok into the least exotic setting imaginable.
Read Full Review

What Our Users Said

Vote Now!The average user rating for this movie is 5.6 (out of 10) based on 18 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Ronald S gave it a3:
Do all of the other customers who come into the Pharmacy know sign language? And the hardened Assassin is going to just fall completely head over heels in love over a deaf woman in a pharmacy? Especially since he couldn't even understand her if she could talk? The whole love thing just feels so absolutely contrived. And Joe looks like he's been dead for a week.

Brian R. gave it an8:
Not as bad as the critics will insist, still Cage has performed much better on previous outings. I disagree with the opinion that it is a dull movie to look at. Although many of the Bangkok backdrops are cliched at times it is visually arresting. Action when it comes is impressively done but Cages hair is more of a distraction than I thought it would be. Why can't a a hitman with such compulsion and precision not take two minutes out with a comb?

Gunny M. gave it a4:
Nicolas Cage=sh*tty movie. What ever happened to the days when you could rely on Nick to produce a good flick such as Face off. Weatherman, and City of Angels. Now hes the only character you reconginze in this weird flick that is very predictable. I hate his attitude as this tough guy i dont give a fuck what happens to me and i'm the man persona. In addition to that he falls for a deaf girl, i mean come on now what the hell is going on here. Not only that she works at a feaking pharmacey where communication is key. At least CSi or burn notice is a little more believable logistically. Nice hair Nick did you get your style from happy days you greasy weirdo.

Bryan P. gave it an8:
If you can get past Nicolas Cages hair the story is not bad. I like the fact that the story seems predictable but in the end isn't. The director was very conservative on the shaky cam,( I hate shaky cam) only in the last third of the movie did the shaky cam come out.

Chad S. gave it a5:
This movie was not nearly a 2.5 out of 10 if we are considering 5 to be average. Of course if you go into the movie expecting a movie to win best picture then you surely are going to be let down, but lets face it, its nicholas cage and it's a hit man movie by a director that hasn't really proven himself, but overall it was entertaining and parts of it were very good. in that same breath parts didn't fit in and should have been left entirely out. there isn't much out in theaters right now so if you are just looking to be entertained then sure go see it and don't have high expectations, but if you are looking for something to blow your mind then just stay home.

Jack R. gave it a9:
Great move with tons of action. If you like Hong Kong" actio flixs you will love this movie.

Mas J. gave it an8:
Not nearly as bad as the official reviews rate it. Its not a cookie cutter romantic comedy which reviewers love and does not give a feel good ending. However, it is entertaining and interesting for making an unapologetically bad guy as the hero. It took Cage some courage to take on such a sinister role.

Read more user comments...

Discuss this movie in our forums

Return to top of page
Home | FILM | DVD/VIDEO | MUSIC | GAMES | TV | Forums | About Metacritic metacritic.com

Popular on CBS sites: MLB | Spore | iPhone 3G | Paris Hilton | Antivirus Software | GPS | Recipes | Shwayze | NFL

About CBS Interactive | Jobs | Advertise

© 2008 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use