Camaraderie, Carnage Stylishly Collide in ‘Bangkok Dangerous’

“Bangkok Dangerous” takes a high-voltage, ultra-stylish dive into the lethal, shadowy underworld of the Thai capital and comes up with a taut thriller as drenched in romantic fatalism as it is in extreme violence. Twin brothers Oxide and Danny Pang honed their filmmaking skills in Hong Kong, and their film plays like an homage to the former British crown colony’s bravura and bloody gangster pictures.

While showy in its technique, “Bangkok Dangerous” is involving, and the Pangs and go-for-broke cinematographer Decha Srimantra do know how to make violence expressive. There are moments when Tarantino and Peckinpah come to mind, but the Pangs are, not surprisingly, more reminiscent of Wong Kar-wai in style and John Woo in their ability to combine camaraderie and carnage.

Pawalit Mongkolpisit stars as Kong, a young deaf and mute hit man who works with a couple, Joe (Pisek Intarakanchit) and Aom (Patharawarin Timkul), in the employ of a big-time gangster who seems to specialize in supplying clients with killers for hire. The glamorous Aom gets the assignments from this Mr. Big and passes them on to Joe and Kong. Of late, however, Joe has withdrawn from Aom and is beginning to lose his grip. When a thuggish, scarred client of Aom and Joe’s boss takes a fancy to her and she rejects him, the unraveling of the trio’s lives and careers inevitably commences.

The focal point of the film is Kong, who grew up taunted by children for his inability to speak or hear. While working as a janitor in a shooting gallery, he was befriended by Joe and Aom, and Joe instructs him in marksmanship and martial arts. The first time Kong fires a gun at a target at the gallery he imagines he’s shooting those kids who made his life miserable. In an instant he has discovered his calling, and the warm friendship Joe and Aom extend him is quite possibly is the only acceptance he has ever known. Should anything ever happen to Joe or Aom, both vulnerable behind sleek, ruthless facades, it would surely propel Kong on an unswerving course of vengeance.

However, when Kong meets a pretty pharmacist, Fon (Premsinee Ratanasopha), and falls for her, a world of possibilities opens up for him. But it may be too late for him to change course.

The Pangs are as skilled at visual razzle-dazzle as they are at eliciting harrowing portrayals, choreographing stylistic extravagance on the one hand and raw emotion and brutality on the other. “Bangkok Dangerous” is too violent for many people but is likely to be appreciated by fans of no-holds-barred gangster pictures in general and of Hong Kong cinema in particular.

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Unrated. Times guidelines: Frequent displays of brutal bloodshed.

‘Bangkok Dangerous’

Pawalit Mongkolpisit: Kong

Premsinee Ratanasopha: Fon

Patharawarin Timkul: Aom

Pisek Intarakanchit: Joe

A First Look Pictures release of a Film Bangkok production. Writers-directors-editors Oxide and Danny Pang. Producer Nonzee Nimitbutr. Executive producers Pracha Maleenont, Brian L. Marcar, Adirek Wattaleela. Cinematographer Decha Srimantra. Music Orange Music. Costumes Pronwilai Banchasuk. Production designer Wut Chaoslip. Art director Noppadol Nopsuwanchai. In Thai, with English subtitles. Running time: 1 hour, 47 minutes.

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