FILM: New in Theaters - 9/05/08

Um, so there's only one movie that's being released this weekend: Bangkok Dangerous.

In this action thriller, Nicholas Cage plays a hitman--of course--who is hired to pull off a series of jobs, including a political assassination, that eventually get him into a lot of trouble. During all the running around and shooting, he finds time to "fall in love" with an Asian girl and become bffs with his "errand boy."

Chinese brothers Danny Pang and Oxide Pang Chun (The Messengers) also directed the original in 1999 with an all-Asian cast. Sometimes foreign directors redo their films for American audiences, and most of the time that occurs with Asian cinema (i.e. The Ring, The Grudge, The Eye, etc.). Unfortunately, they not only changed the actors, but the plot as well. In the original, the hitman is a deaf-mute, he has a partner--not an "errand boy"--and the viewer watches him learn the consequences of his actions through flashbacks. Way to dumb it down for the Americans.


If you're not up for it, you could always check out last week's options.