Movies

It wasn't bad. Nicholas Cage looked really fat and tired, not his usually fit and tired self, and he played the cold assassin part with ease. But when it went into the 'shy in love assassination teacher that cares about his student and doesn't kill the good guys' part, it kind of felt rushed. I am sure you can see the problem here.Basically it is a film about a man that rediscovers his soul... then dies from it. Not a fresh thing in Asian movies, but something that the (re)makers of this film bet the Americans will find cool. I, myself, understood the idea, but saw no reason in remaking the Thai movie that had the same idea and add almost nothing to it other than production costs.Bottom line: sad-good-assassin story, with no twist. If you like stuff like that, watch it. Better than Hell Rider, anyway.

So what if I can predict what is going to happens, I can do it with most films nowadays - its not about that. Its about making a movie that entertains, and IMHO they have achieved that.OK, some of the shooting sequences were a bit dodgy and the narration descended into the cliché on occasions but overall I rate this film better then most action films I have seen in recent months.Cage is solid in his role and so is his side kick. The elephant did a good job too but his role was only in 2 scenes :) So all in all 7 is my vote and it could have been better if not for a few lines of monologue and a couple of silly shootouts across water canisters. Watch it and make your own mind.

Joe (Nicolas Cage) is a professional hit man looking for a final job. He arrives in Bangkok to do four hits in one location for crime boss Surat. He hires local disposable hustler thief Kong. He falls for deaf pharmacist Fon. He gets each target in a briefcase. The second briefcase gets opened. Kong realizes that Joe is an assassin and asks to be trained by him.The pervasive dark blue photography gets a bit tiresome. I do like the exotic location of Bangkok and its foreign modernity. It doesn't really have the style or action to elevate this. Most of these foreign action movies have more exciting action and people expect it now. The movie is left with a cold performance from Cage and a simple assassin story. The love story doesn't take off either with such a detached character.