One Night in Bangkok | DVD (Lionsgate)
Director: Wych Kaosayananda
Cast: Mark Dacascos, Kane Kosugi, Vanida Golten, Prinya Intachai, Michael S. New, Charlie Ruedpokanon, Alice Tantayanon, Sahajak Boonthanakit, Julie Condra, Shivam Pawa, Siripon Yuktadatta
Running Time: 105 min.
By Paul Bramhall
In 2019 Thai director Wych Kaosayananda had somewhat of an epiphany with his feature The Driver. Using nothing more than a stationery car, a green screen, and an action star who’s been off the boil for almost 20 years, it was possible to make a movie! It may not be a good movie, in fact it may be a terrible excuse for a movie, but it’s still a movie. I confess the next scenario is speculation on my part, but I have a theory that after this epiphany took place, Kaosayananda realised he was onto something, and decided to kidnap The Driver star Mark Dacascos. The Driver also starred Mrs. Dacascos and their daughter, so what choice did he have, but to agree to star in another movie that involved a lot of sitting in a stationery car in front of a green screen.
Dacascos held out as long as he could, you can tell by his slightly unkempt appearance and greying stubble, but ultimately he’d end up in front of the camera once more. What was the result of this horrendous ordeal that The Chairman of Iron Chef America had to endure? It’s called One Night in Bangkok, however I warn you that it feels like a lot longer. Proving that going head to head with Keanu Reeves in the hottest action franchise of the moment means absolutely nothing, Dacascos continues to struggle to find a production which would even come close to offering a glimpse into why he was considered such a fan favorite in the 90’s and early 00’s. From directing and featuring in Alexander Nevsky vehicles in Russia, to these Thailand set lobotomies, all that’s left for him to do is start headlining some Eastern European shot cheapies opposite Steven Seagal.
Exactly how Kaosayananda continues to work is a mystery. Distributors seem to be onto him as well, re-titling any productions he was involved in at the last minute perhaps to try and throw the audience off the trail. The 1st part in his zombie trilogy (of which The Driver is the finale, but released 1st – don’t ask) was called Two of Us, but then when it eventually hit streaming platforms it was cleverly disguised as Dead Earth. His 2012 production Angels went one step further, not only being re-titled, but also re-edited and containing new scenes shot with actors Scott Adkins and Kane Kosugi, eventually seeing the light of day in 2015 as Zero Tolerance. Zero tolerance is an approach which could well be applied to watching his movies, but what can I say, I’m a glutton for punishment.
In One Night in Bangkok Dacascos arrives in Thailand with no luggage, seemingly no jet lag, and a rather dapper grey suit. After cheerfully greeting immigration with a “mahalo!” (his character is from Hawaii, just like in reality!), there’s a strange series of events which can mostly be described as watching Dacascos do nothing. He goes to the bathroom to brush his teeth, and Kaosayananda keeps feeling the need to apply a split-screen technique, where we watch the same scene from 2 different angles. Sometimes not even that, in a couple of instances it’s literally like one camera has been placed a meter apart from the other. What’s the point? Anyway, after looking mildly frustrated at the bathrooms lack of handtowels both in the airport and at the restaurant he visits immediately after (yes, we see him go the bathroom twice in just a few minutes), he calls a taxi and finally we can have some semblance of a plot.
In a nutshell the plot shamelessly lifts the premise of Michael Mann’s Collateral, with Dacascos offering the lady who’s driving a hefty sum of money if she agrees to escort him to various locations throughout the night. Rather than hiring an actress, Kaosayananda has cast ‘Instagram star’ Vanida Golten as the taxi driver, here making her acting debut. In all fairness, it’s difficult to assess her acting ability because the script (also penned by Kaosayananda) is atrocious. One of the initial conversations has Dacascos complimenting her on her English ability, to which she explains that she learnt through watching movies and YouTube videos, to which Dacascos replies she shouldn’t need to speak fluent English in a country like Thailand. To describe it as inane would be a compliment, with its obvious intention to show their relationship developing missing the mark by about the distance between the US and Bangkok.
Much like in The Driver, the abundant driving scenes are a torture to sit through, with the green screen work failing to convince that the pair are anywhere except in a static car. The detachment from reality makes the scenes strangely devoid of any tension or momentum (both literally and figuratively), not helped by the overly cliched script, full of lines like “Life is about choices” and “I believe in faith.” In one shot, the camera is placed so that the passenger seat obscures Dacascos completely, a shot which they obviously corrected straight away since the angle never appears again, but the question remains why didn’t they re-shoot the scene where you can’t even see him!? Thankfully, there are scenes which take place outside of the car. Kaosayananda should be thankful Dacascos didn’t do a runner during these particular scenes.
On his first visit to see a lawyer in an office tower, who turns out to be played by Alice Tantayanon from The Driver and Two of Us (and notably nothing else), we quickly learn his visit to Thailand is a quest for vengeance. After firing a bindi between her eyes (well, it’s supposed to be a bullet, but if there was an award for the least convincing bullet wound makeup this would be the winner) we soon learn that he’s arrived to dish out a certain brand of justice to the drunk driver and his acquaintances responsible for killing his daughter and her family in a car crash. Due to the drunk driver being rich and well connected, he was able to escape sentencing, but that’s all about to change via a series of completely unremarkable action sequences (and I hesitate to even call them that).
Stifle your yawns as Dacascos visits Ibiza Nightclub (which he criminally pronounces “I-beet-za”), possibly the most sparsely populated nightclub ever put on film. Slap yourself awake as he disguises himself as a doctor in a hospital to access one of his targets. Laugh as he attempts to pull off some John Wick style gunplay where people fall before they’ve actually been shot (or alternatively, the camera cuts away before they fall!). To be honest, the hospital scene does deserve some points, as Dacascos gets to kill his own wife, Julie Condra. Must have been a tough shoot for the couple, but I can guarantee its tougher to watch, and not because we care.
Not content with sucking all visible talent out of Dacascos, Kaosayananda’s vacuum of oblivion has also captured talented screen fighter Kane Kosugi in its trajectory. The pair have now collaborated together 4 times, the first being for the Kosugi headlining Tekken 2: Kazuya’s Revenge in 2014, then he was a part of the Zero Tolerance reshoots a year later, before his final scene appearance in last years The Driver. Now he’s back again in One Night in Bangkok, appearing over 90 minutes in for a total of about 5 minutes. What happens when you get 2 screen fighters of Dacascos and Kosugi’s calibre in the same scene together as mortal enemies? Apparently nothing. The pair throw a few haymaker punches at each other, before Dacascos is floored from a spin-kick, and Kosugi is taken out via a means that I won’t spoil. I’ll simply say that it took me longer to type out that last sentence than the ‘fight’ goes on for, and I can type fast.
At least before they throwdown Dacascos gets to launch into an unintentionally hilarious tirade in an attempt to coax Kosugi out from his mansion. It’s supposed to be a rage filled rant, but Dacascos really doesn’t look like his heart was in it, which results in it coming across as both awkward and slightly embarrassing to watch (especially when he yells “Fuck-head!”). Had the whole of One Night in Bangkok been on this level of bad, it would have at least been entertaining to watch, but much like The Driver Kaosayananda seems to believe that dour and monotonous is the way to go when making a serious picture.
Frankly, One Night in Bangkok is a miserable watch. Devoid of any semblance of entertainment, and taking itself way too seriously for the duration, Kaosayananda is aiming far above his means. Combine that with a performance from Dacascos that’s clearly outside his range (take note – it takes more than grey stubble to convey world weariness), and you’re left with a movie that’s biggest struggle for the viewer is the one to finish it. Since it’s now been proven that it doesn’t matter whether he’s in the driver or the passenger seat, if we need to see Dacascos in another one of these flicks, hopefully he’ll be tied up in the trunk and nobody notices he’s there. It’ll be better for all of us.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 2/10
Ouch. Sad to hear Dacascos is in such a huge misfire.
I didn’t think One Night in Bangkok would be great, but I wasn’t anticipating that it’d be WORSE than The Driver! It sounds like MST3K would have nothing to work with on this filth. Mark deserves so much better.
“Mark deserves so much better.”
This comment has been made about almost every movie Dacascos has headlined since 2006’s ‘The Hunt for Eagle One’. Is it time for us all to accept that D-grade movies are what Dacascos was made for, and that his hits were more to do with the talent behind the camera that those in front of it?
No, I’d rather keep waiting in vain for him to do something good once more. There’s no way these two films are a reflection of what Mark is good for. Chad Stahelski and David Leitch can certainly collaborate with him again.
Damnit Mark, what happened to you bro ? 🙁 how the mighty have fallen !
2!!!!!!!!!
That was a satisfying read.
What we need is another Crying Freeman.
As recently as 2018 Dacascos was set to reunite with Christophe Gans for ‘Corto Maltese’, which would have seen him starring alongside Milla Jovovich, however there’s been no news on it since then.
The moment I had heard that Kaosayananda was involved, I knew that it wasn’t going to end well for anybody. It’s painfully clear that this guy doesn’t know the first thing about building tension or crafting an action sequence, especially after having seen Ecks vs. Sever and Kazuya’s Revenge. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a director over-use slow-motion the way that Kaosayananda does. He tries to make things look cool, but ends up coming off as pretentious. Having already subjected myself to two of this guy’s movies, I have no intention of seeing this one. I can only assume that Dacascos and Kosugi did this movie just for the paycheck. I can’t imagine it was worth it, though.
“The moment I had heard that Kaosayananda was involved, I knew that it wasn’t going to end well for anybody” LOL!
You know we live in the absolute worst timeline, when Wych Kaosayananda somehow keeps getting movies made.
The Driver still hasn’t been released in the UK.. or at least that I’m aware, and that’s fine. I have been a devoted fan of MD since seeing Only the Strong & as such have a lot of patience for the lesser desired of his films. But this can’t go on, especially after what should have been his phoenix moment after JW3. Despite getting on, he can surely get better gigs than this. These & the Russian/Phillipine made projects need to end once & for all.
I just don’t understand.
“The Driver still hasn’t been released in the UK.”
Cry no more – https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08HJ2NTTT
(At least the cover artwork has had more effort put into it than the US release!)
Look at Daniel Bernhardt at the moment, appearing in major productions either in front of the camera or in some form of stunt co-ordination or choreography. Not saying MD should be reduced to stunts, but at this point the starring vehicles are gone or not worth suffering through.
That’s a great point regarding Daniel Bernhardt. He may not be getting the starring roles, but he’s showing off his talents in other ways, and his fans appreciate it. If I look at what I consider to be Dacascos’ Top 5, they’re from 20 years ago (this may be a controversial opinion, but I far prefer the fight Keanu Reeves has against Roger Yuen at the start of ‘John Wick 3’ than the one he has against Dacascos at the end of it).
1. Drive (1997)
2. Crying Freeman (1995)
3. Brotherhood of the Wolf (2001)
4. Only the Strong (1993)
5. Redemption: Kickboxer 5 (1995)
I’m happy you mustered 5, Paul. I can only manage a Top 3 which is exactly the 1st 3 on your list and the only 3 MD films I have on DVD.
To be fair, it’s been more than 2 decades since I saw Only The Strong but I remember not being that impressed with the fights. By comparison, the small flashes of Capoeira which Lateef Crowder unleashed in Tom Yum Goong, Undisputed 3 and Falcon Rising seem more thrilling.
Kickboxer 5 I suspect stands out only because the Sasha Mitchell starring sequels were so bad.
Yeah, echoing the general consensus that Mark Dacascos is the great unrealized potential in Martial Arts Cinema, along with Jeeja Yanin, but with the latter at least the decision to focus on family is a little easier to accept than a great martial artist who consistently and inexplicably makes bad film choices.
Is it just me? Or does anyone else find that while flawed as fuck, Ballistic: Eck Vs Sever is the best example of Wych’s work to date? I know he and various other people talk of it being taken out of his hands, but it feels like he just got very lucky when Hollywood was looking for the next Asian action director and someone threw his name into the hat…….
The narrative around ‘Ballistic: Eck Vs Sever’ (one largely created by Wych himself) was that it was a good movie, before the stuido took it out of his hands and turned it into a shit one.
At this point in time though, after seeing the types of movie he cranks out when he has full control, I think it’s more than likely the studio made something that was borderline unwatchable into passably mediocre.
That does seem like a more accurate take on things
Original idea was good, Andy Cheng did the Previz and then Wych and co seemed to lose the plot and the flavour
Well, I suppose there’s not room for those guys to showcase anymore. It’s not like you can do a Deathmatch kind of a movie with small pocket in America anymore. I wonder in the next 10 years, which country will be the destination, for cheap productions. Place your bets guys.
I’ll go with Bulgaria, it’s been the go-to country to shoot action movies on the cheap for a while now (Isaac Florentine, Scott Adkins, and Steven Seagal are all frequent visitors), and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.
I’m with Paul. And yeah, the usual suspects were the ones who went through my mind. Lol
I don’t know why I watched this, but this was really bad, real fucking bad, damnit Dacascos part ways with Kaosman already !
That now means 2 people in the world have watched ‘One Night in Bangkok’. The good news? We’re both still alive to tell the tale. The bad news? This movie exists.
the whole way through I was dreading my own existence, Wych Kaos is just……… something else.
It’s a real testament to how strong a few early Dacascos films are that people are still willing to vouch for him when it comes to newer projects. Drive is a lot of fun but if that’s his magnum opus then I feel a bit mixed on how everyone is meant to be pumped when it comes to new films. I’m 100% invested in him being attached to strong scripts/directors but it does seem like he has been linked to fairly shaky filmamkers from the get-go? As harsh as that sounds I don’t mean it to be a criticism of his skills as a martial artist/actor at all, if anything it is proof of his charisma onscreen when working on these films that people are still willing to watch things like this. Also, the review is great, thanks for sitting through this and providing the feedback Paul.
I spent five nights in Bangkok, Thailand. It’s an amazing city deserving of a much better movie than this. Amazing people, amazing food, amazing culture and wonderful astounding Buddhist temples.
Someone make a great movie about Bangkok please, I hope to return to Thailand and Bangkok and Chiang Mai before I die.