“Bang” Theatrical Poster
Director: Wych Kaosayananda
Cast: Jack Kesy, Peter Weller, Tristin Mays, Kane Kosugi, Elliot Allison, Paul Mann, Steve Bastoni
Running Time: 88 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Being a fan of director Wych Kaosayananda can be a tough gig, or at least, that’s what I assume. Since returning in 2012 after a 10-year hiatus following 2002’s Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever, if there’s one thing that’s become apparent, it’s that getting a production in the can is far from an easy task. Most of the mid to late 2010’s were spent waiting for the action flick Maxx, set to star Jason Patric and Kane Kosugi, and while it’s generally believed to have started filming, the final product has remained elusive. Then there’s The Rider, also set to star Kane Kosugi and the middle entry in Kaosayananda’s zombie trilogy (sandwiched by Paradise Z and The Driver), which seemingly never made it past pre-production. The last time Kaosayananda helmed a movie to completion was 2020’s One Night in Bangkok, and following another (much shorter this time) 5-year hiatus, in 2025 he’s back with the actioner Bang.
In the tradition of Shatter, Carter, and – yes let’s go there – Bean, the title takes its name from the surname of its main character, William Bang (and no, not once is he referred to as Bill Bang, which seems like a missed opportunity). A hitman for hire played by Jack Kesy (Hellboy: The Crooked Man), upon getting out of prison he’s soon back in the fold of the Italian mafia family he worked for previously, overseen by a scenery chewing Peter Weller (Robocop). Despite being described as “Basquiat with a 45.”, that doesn’t stop Kesy from being subjected to a hail of bullets by a vengeance seeking associate, leaving him as left for dead as Weller’s own demise in the 1987 sci-fi classic. Far from being turned into Roboassassin though, instead he’s given a new heart – that of a father-to-be who was killed in a car crash while driving his in-labour wife to the hospital.
With a new ticker installed, Kesy finds himself (quite literally – Bang definitely deserves the award for the most on-the-nose metaphor of the year) having a change of heart towards his cold-blooded profession. From being a clinically efficient hitman, he soon finds himself transitioning into an unappreciative heart breaker, one might even say a bit of a douche. Upon getting out of the hospital his mafia associates throw him a surprise welcome back party, even going to the effort of finding the guy that shot him, decapitating his head, and placing it as the centrepiece. Everyone’s encouraged to pick up a baseball bat and assault the decapitated dome, kind of like a gruesome version of a piñata, but Kesy just doesn’t seem to be into it. Talk about ungrateful.
He’s also been dating a cam girl who works at the awesomely named Fapp House, played by Tristin Mays (The Comic Shop), not giving a 2nd thought to dragging her away in the middle of a shift so they can bang on top of a Ferris wheel (which seems to be a regular deal, since the Ferris wheel operator clearly knows what they’re there for, giving them priority access). Despite his lack of regard for her hours of employment, once he gets his new heart Kesy proceeds to change the locks so Mays can no longer get in, and tells her their relationship is over! The irony of these scenarios is that the narrative isn’t meant to portray Kesy’s actions in a negative way, but rather they’re intended to show how he’s become more humane, which makes the absurdity of it all come across as rather humorous.
Absurdity also happens to be one of the main factors that works in Bang’s favour. Opting to create a world of over the top 90’s style DTV machismo, Kaosayananda’s latest is the kind of movie that has its title appear against the backdrop of a guy’s brain matter that’s just been splattered all over a window, the aftermath of receiving a bullet in the head. Another of Kesy’s associates starts talking about how they’re planning on getting married, so Weller picks up a bottle of champagne and smashes it over his head, before shooting him dead. Hitmen don’t do this marriage stuff! Oh, and of course, there’s the whole coitus in a Ferris wheel moment, because doing it in bed is far too boring for a hitman.
The most entertaining part of Bang though is also its central premise, which is joyously ridiculous in its outlandishness. Knowing he’ll become a target if he tries to leave Weller’s organisation, Kesy continues to accept hit jobs. How to get around being a hitman if you no longer have an appetite for killing? How’s this for a plan? 1. Purchase a bag of chicken blood. 2. Convince the targets that you’re not going to kill them, but that they need to pose for a staged assassination photo, which involves being smeared with chicken blood. 3. Purchase “an abandoned development 2 hours out of town”, and having convinced them to get covered in chicken blood, then convince them to move with their families to the abandoned development. Simple right? Apparently so, as everyone agrees, creating a kind of commune consisting of characters who are supposed to be dead, but can now spend their days playing poker and shooting the wind together.
What the grand plan is doesn’t actually matter, Bang knows is has less than 90 minutes to deliver a dose of no-frills action, hence feels like it knowingly skips over details that a bigger budgeted production would be held accountable to. Here though it’s a happy trade-off for economy of storytelling. Kesy’s decision of course doesn’t stay under wraps for long, allowing for the classic hitman movie tropes to (eventually) be adhered to – a target (or in this case, targets) is given the chance to live if they disappear, the hitman’s employers find out about the indiscretion, and hence the hitman becomes a target himself. It’s a tried and tested formula, however in terms of straight forward DTV action narratives, it’s also a comfortably familiar one, and when done right can still deliver the intended action beats in entertaining fashion.
Bang for the most part does things right, with the last 25 minutes being almost continuous action. There’s a healthy dose of PM Entertainment-esque vehicular explosions, stuntmen going flying through the air at regular intervals, and for an action fan like myself, I appreciate the small details like seeing the bullet casings fly out of the guns as they’re being shot. Sure there’s still some digital post work added, but nothing as painful as the digital muzzle flares a lot of DTV productions are subjected to. What’s less forgivable is the way a fight scene is filmed that pits Kaosayananda regular Kane Kosugi (Tekken: Kazuya’s Revenge) against Elliot Allison (Affinity). Making it more frustrating is that it’s actually well choreographed by Chanchai Intthasain (who only has 2 other credits to his name – one of them being as a stuntman on the 2008 Thailand-shot Korean movie Sunny).
Kaosayananda is also the cinematographer for Bang, so unfortunately it would seem the blame lies with him, marking the first time for me to witness a sweeping low kick filmed from the knees up, meaning you don’t actually get to see it. When Kosugi is knocked down he also throws in a wushu style acrobatic flourish to get back onto his feet, but it regrettably happens outside of the frame. For long time kung-fu cinema fans it’s possible to fill in the visual blanks, for everyone else they may be left thinking why Kosugi’s leg randomly shoots up the side of the screen. While Bang is definitely not a fight flick, a dose of Kane Kosugi action is always a welcome addition to any production, so it’s a shame that Kaosayananda has squandered his talents both here and in One Night in Bangkok (where he got to go toe to toe against Mark Dacascos!).
For better or worse there are other Kaosayananda trademarks present in Bang, his obsession with filming bathroom scenes meaning we see Kesy take a shower probably one too many times more than we need to, however overall what he’s crafted here is a perfectly respectable entry in the DTV action genre. The fact that Peter Weller seems to be having a good time is a bonus, throwing in random outbursts in Italian, dishing out orders while getting Botox, and talking about his skin scrub appointments, elevating a role that’s often left for someone like Mickey Rourke to sleepwalk through. For an unpretentious slice of DTV action, Bang hits the spot. Now, where’s my nearest Ferris wheel?
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10
The concept sounds somewhat similar to Repo Men where in that movie, Jude Law is cold and uncaring as he murders the people he repossesses from, but when he gets a heart transplant, he starts feeling empathy for the victims and turns against his employers. That movie could have been great but was poorly developed and put together, and the un-earned ending ripped off Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.
It sounds like this “change of heart” movie was supposed to turn the protagonist into someone sympathetic but the film makers really screwed up. I didn’t think the action could make up for it even if it does get to ridiculous levels.