This was unexpectedly great. The poster makes it looks like a generic early 2000s actioner, instead it is a rather grim and gritty crime drama, with stylised visual flair from the Pang Brothers, adapted their 1999 from of the same name (which I haven't seen).
It's an oft-told tale, with Cage as a hitman, narrating his rules of engagement and yet ultimately breaking them through development of a bond with his designed to be disposable aid (Shahkrit Yamnarm)
and pharmacist love interest Fon (Charlie Yueng). While the narrative is well worn territory the Bangkok locale makes for a heightened atmosphere, not merely a scenic backdrop, but a lived in entity on screen, that highlights the disparity of both economic and ethical boundaries.
There is some pretty obvious foreshadowing that denies a feeling of narrative complexity, the plot exists primarily as an opportunity for the Pangs to both create mood and explore their keen visual aesthetic, tinged in red, blue and green, the foremost example being Cage's red tinged shoot-out across a shelf of bottled water, lines of water cascading through the scene like the bursts of bullet hole light in the Coens Blood Simple.
Also clearly I know nothing about cinema as this holds a 2.2 average on letterboxd
This was unexpectedly great. The poster makes it looks like a generic early 2000s actioner, instead it is a rather grim and gritty crime drama, with stylised visual flair from the Pang Brothers, adapted their 1999 from of the same name (which I haven't seen).
It's an oft-told tale, with Cage as a hitman, narrating his rules of engagement and yet ultimately breaking them through development of a bond with his designed to be disposable aid (Shahkrit Yamnarm)
and pharmacist love interest Fon (Charlie Yueng). While the narrative is well worn territory the Bangkok locale makes for a heightened atmosphere, not merely a scenic backdrop, but a lived in entity on screen, that highlights the disparity of both economic and ethical boundaries.
There is some pretty obvious foreshadowing that denies a feeling of narrative complexity, the plot exists primarily as an opportunity for the Pangs to both create mood and explore their keen visual aesthetic, tinged in red, blue and green, the foremost example being Cage's red tinged shoot-out across a shelf of bottled water, lines of water cascading through the scene like the bursts of bullet hole light in the Coens Blood Simple.
Also clearly I know nothing about cinema as this holds a 2.2 average on letterboxd
