Alice Oscura – Featured Writer
One Night in Bangkok stars Mark Dacascos (Only the Strong, The Crow: Stairway to Heaven, Wu Assassins), as Kai Kahale, a hitman who travels to Bangkok, hires an Uber driver named Fha (Vanida Golten) for the night and proceeds to carry out a series of revenge-driven murders. If the plot kind of sounds familiar, then you are probably thinking about Collateral (2004) the American action-thriller film starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. The stark contrast between the two films is the fact that Kai seems to be a genuinely nice guy whereas Tom Cruise’s Vincent was a viciously cold-blooded assassin. Kai is not only super polite and respectful but, has a conscience? A hitman with a conscience…imagine that.
However, even Mark Dacascos could not save this snore fest. Although the story is not bad when you discover why Kai is revenge killing, the supporting cast, including Fha the Uber driver who is basically the female lead, are one dimensional. There is nothing impressive about this one. And for the scenes in between the action where the emotions are allowed to seep through, the performances seemed forced and do not ring true in my opinion.
Unfortunately, we do not see any action until at least you are an hour into the movie. The few fight sequences were entertaining because we get to see Dacascos show off his skills despite being in his late 50s. The bad guys are all over-the-top caricatures that were neither here nor there for me.
We are meant to feel sympathy for the character of Fha, but as a viewer I was unable to connect with this emotion because her performance really did nothing to warrant it.
It becomes extremely difficult to immerse yourself enough into a movie where the story, acting and atmosphere does not engage the audience. And that is the experience of watching One Night in Bangkok, which feels just like a straight-to-DVD type of movie. The plot is not only extremely predictable but visually looks like the movie is a promotion for the Bangkok night life.
Trust me you are not missing out if you skip this one. As a matter of fact, rewatch Collateral and you will have a far more entertaining time.
Rating: 4 out of 10
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Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.
I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.