After the release of the third part "John Wick" many, including me, hoped that top projects would pour in Mark Dacascos like a cornucopia, and he will only have time to catch them like a wolf caught eggs in a Soviet electronic game. A similar situation occurred with Van Damme after the second "The Expendables"”, when it seemed that the aging action star’s fading career would be revived and gain a second wind. But, unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. As a result, both Dacascos and ZhKVD, the quality of projects has not increased much. And in this sense the picture "One Night in Bangkok" very similar to "Lucas": the same ascetic and minimalist cinema with pretensions to the concept of “auteur” and “mature”, very slow and not dynamic, far from high-budget, but not defiantly cheap either. Both films, although presented as dramatic action films, gravitate more towards drama with a small amount of dialogue (those that exist are terribly simple), which are replaced by close-ups of the main character, which draws everything out with experience, charisma and acting on a rather empty and extremely inappropriate original script field.
Moreover, both pictures are narrowly national - "Lucas" - this is France, and "One Night in Bangkok" - Thailand. Both films are dark and nocturnal, with lots of neon lights and attempts to compensate for thought and a thin wallet with a neo-noir atmosphere. If you want to pass for a smart director, put more night in the frame, more neon, more wanderings of the main character against the backdrop of sad or tense music, which, however, cannot be remembered. The line between stylishness and mediocrity is quite thin, but noticeable to the armed and experienced eye. If «Fury» is an example of well-managed budgets, and "John Wick" or "Villain" – this is professional work with color, light and locations, then "One Night in Bangkok", despite all attempts to bring the picture up to the level of its expensive brothers, it looks cardboard, simply because the viewer knows and understands all the references, and can easily compare one with another. But still, whatever one may say, even such a cheap neo-noir works for the benefit of the film, because the picture and action are not annoying. There was a similar feeling from another film with Van Damme - "Pound of Flesh", which is also similar to "One Night in Bangkok" filming, pictures, temperament and dialogues behind the wheel, casually filmed on the pavilion.
The plot of the film is a transformed version "Accomplice" with Tom Cruise и Jamie Foxx, only with a vector in moralizing and family drama. The plot twists are not twists at all, therefore they are obvious and expected, so all your attention will be riveted with the leisurely night drives and Dacascos's acting, which is definitely good, but that's all. I’ll assume that throughout the film you’ll be waiting for some kind of surge or tear to appear, but you won’t get it, although it’s formally present in the finale, that’s just the director Vich Kaosayananda he was ruined, so it will be difficult for the viewer to ultimately form his attitude towards any of the characters existing in the frame. The film clearly lacks sharpness and poignancy, so we are not destined to choose between an avenger crushed by grief and a father who has gone off the rails and, by the will of fate, set foot on a bloody path. We also cannot take the side of his victims or hate them - they are too impersonal and fleeting.
Another problem is that the film has a lot of conventions and very stupid actions of the characters, especially the insane police officers who do some crazy things from time to time, and the main character’s partner, played by a Thai actress Vanita Golden - a pretty girl who cries well on camera, but otherwise disgustingly embodies other shades of emotions and looks at everything with a kind of sluggish, sleepy look for almost the entire film.
It is pointless to expect action from Dacascos in this film, because, in fact, there is no subject to wait for. It can be assumed that the director was afraid to pull the blanket in favor of action films, but this is in vain, since he also did not leave blankets for high-quality drama. A Kane Kosugi, which was supposed to attract an additional viewer to the screen, appears at the end almost as a cameo, and its plot purpose is practically unrevealed and looks artificial. Separately, we can note the short role of Mark’s wife - Julie Condra, which is destined for a quick and unenviable fate.
As a result, we have a very leisurely film about the gray-bearded Dacascos, who did not have time to grow his hair from the filming of Wick, who plays it well and confidently, but the secondary nature and optionality of the picture as a whole greatly neutralizes all his efforts.
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Tags: One night in bangkok, Vich Kaosayananda, Julie Condra, Kane Kosugi, Mark Dacascos
Tags: One night in bangkok, Vich Kaosayananda, Julie Condra, Kane Kosugi, Mark Dacascos
It's a shame for Dacascos - he should have packed cinemas in the 90s, when Van Damme was drinking in clubs
When I saw the director's name, I immediately realized that it was going to be shit. This Vich doesn’t know how to shoot action at all, and he doesn’t know how to do it at all.