“Bangkok Dog” Theatrical Poster
Director: Chaya Supannarat
Cast: D.Y. Sao, Jenny Philomena Van Der Sluijs, Brian Le, Ron Smoorenburg, Sahajak Boonthanakit
Running Time: 85 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Throughout the 2000’s and 2010’s having the Thai capitals name in an action movie title seemed to be all the rage – Bangkok Dangerous, Bangkok Adrenaline, Bangkok Revenge, BKO: Bangkok Knockout, Bangkok Rush, Bangkok Assassins – the list goes on! However as the Thai action scene gradually began to fade away, both in terms of local productions and overseas ones using it as a shooting location, so too did the energy charged titles that always promised a dose of elbows and knees to the head. It’s to be admired then that the director who became synonymous with Thai action in the 2000’s, Prachya Pinkaew, is now attempting to bring it back in the 2020’s. So far Pinkaew has been involved in a couple of productions, and while he may no longer in the director’s chair, by serving as executive producer it conveniently allows the productions to be branded with the “Prachya Pinkaew presents” label.
The star he’s chosen to put his faith in is D.Y. Sao, a Cambodian born, California raised former representative of the U.S. National Wushu Team who’s proficient in several martial arts styles. The first production that Pinkaew and Sao collaborated on was 2022’s Shadow Master, which in my review for I’d stated, “Sao seems to have found his partner in crime with Singaporean director and writer Pearry Teo.” The comment was in reference to Shadow Master being the sophomore leading role for Sao after Teo also directed him in 2021’s Fast Vengeance, and while it looked like we could look forward to more collaborations from the pair, Teo’s unfortunate passing in 2023 put paid to such hopes.
Which brings us to the second production that Pinkaew and Sao have worked on together, and it’s one that places Bangkok back at the fore in the form of 2024’s Bangkok Dog. Sitting in the director’s chair for Sao’s third outing as an action lead is Thai director Chaya Supannarat, making her feature length debut after helming a number of shorts. The plot sees Sao and Jenny Philomena Van Der Sluijs (making her acting debut) as a pair of agents working for the secretive agency LS-75, who we meet in the opening scene looking to bust a drug shipment that’s been delivered to a container yard in California (one of those locations which is always a positive sign in an action movie). After the pair dispatch a handful of lackeys Sao is left to face off against Martial Club member Brian Le (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Paper Tigers), offering up a brief re-match from their highlight one on one in Shadow Master.
With Le apprehended we learn the drugs are coming from Thailand, and since he’s never met the supplier who’s sending the goods, Sao proposes that he’ll pretend to be Le and head across to Bangkok to infiltrate the gang, taking them down from the inside. Because Bangkok Dog has a punchy 85-minute runtime, Sao’s superior immediately agrees without so much as the slightest objection, and like that he’s getting off the plane in Bangkok where he meets his handler from the gang, played by Byron Bishop (The Asian Connection, Kate). It’s not long before the pair become fast friends, bonding over their tough childhood, and the inevitable question arises of is Sao has gotten himself in too deep. The head of LS-75 seems to think so, and orders Van Der Sluijs to get on a plane to Bangkok and bring the investigation back on track. Naturally, a lot of fists, feet, elbows, and knees are thrown along the way.
It should come as no surprise that a Thai action production in 2024 doesn’t have the same budget as Tony Jaa vehicles like Ong Bak had back in the Thai action genres peak in the 2000’s, however when physicality is at the fore this can be easily forgiven. To that end having the likes of Sao and Brian Le onboard provides Bangkok Dog it’s biggest blessing, and arguably its reason for existing in the first place, with Sao in particular offering up an energetic performance that makes it easy to overlook some of the ropey acting and contrived plot points. Best described as being like if Tony Jaa was filtered through a Bruceploitation lens, Sao unleashes plenty of punches with mouth agape, and finishes fights by busting out an exaggerated kung-fu pose. To the casual viewer it will likely come across as comical, but for fans of kung-fu cinema, there’s a certain element of cool seeing such tropes pulled off poker faced in a contemporary setting.
It’s Sao and Le who pull double duty as fight choreographers (also taking a separate credit as action directors), and similar to the action in Shadow Master, there’s a welcome throwback to complex exchanges and gratuitous power moves. Fight choreography trends have arguably shifted more towards realism in recent years, and while the efficient approach certainly has its place, being a fan of both Hong Kong and Thailand’s golden eras of action cinema, I’ll always favour the old-school way of taking full advantage of a performer’s capabilities. There’s a sincerity to the action in Bangkok Dog which risks coming off as goofy, like power powder being used even when someone’s being punched in the face (unless we’re supposed to assume Bangkok is just a really dusty place), however by executing it so seriously it serves to give the narrative a pulpy vibe which suits the overall tone.
The brief exchange between Sao and Le at the beginning also comes full circle during the finale, with a lengthy rematch between the pair being a joy to watch. Le appears to be busting out homages to Bruce Leung’s toad style in Kung Fu Hustle, and even Chang Shan’s sitting splits in Kung Fu of Seven Steps, in a blistering series of exchanges between the pair, one that’s sure to leave any fan of kung-fu cinema satisfied. The pool of performers who can perform complex choreography to such a high level has significantly diminished over the years, so to see fight scenes that rely purely on the performer’s capability with no special effects, gratuitous gore, or creative camera positioning to hide the doubling is a rare pleasure.
Notably Sao also gets to face off against Ron Smoorenburg, who’s been based in Thailand for several years now, but remains most well known for playing one of Jackie Chan’s opponents in the rooftop fight that rounds off Who Am I?. Outside of the action is expectedly where Bangkok Dog is at its weakest, with the debuting Van Der Sluijs offering up some wince worthy moments in the acting department. As an actress there’s more information about her on LinkedIn than there is on IMDB (and if you’re wondering how I got to her LinkedIn profile, with such a barren IMDB page I Googled her name, and it was the first hit). She’s apparently a production assistant for a studio in Thailand, and to her credit out of the strengths she’s listed, acting isn’t mentioned.
Van Der Sluijs is also victim to some of Bangkok Dog’s biggest storytelling faux pas. When she arrives in Bangkok she simply bumps into Sao at a street food vendor as if the city was the size of a single block, and what exactly she’s doing with her time there is never explained. Essentially her only purpose seems to be to sit in a hotel room and wait for Sao to turn up each night with the latest intel for several months. As previously mentioned though, these are some of the shortcuts and overlooked details that come as a result of cramming everything into 85 minutes, and from that perspective Supannarat’s debut moves along at a satisfyingly brisk pace that never comes close to outstaying its welcome.
Overall Bangkok Dog is a step-up from Shadow Master, even if it’s a small one, and taken from the perspective of being the modern equivalent of a DTV action flick, there’s enough brutal knees and flying kicks delivered to satisfy anyone looking for a throwback to Thai action cinemas glory days. At one point Sao’s superior asks him “Do you always have to go kung-fu on every mission!?” To which Sao replies with a smirk, “It works.” The same question could just as well be applied to Bangkok Dog itself, as without the kung-fu it’d be a pretty lamentable excuse for a movie, but with it, well, it works.
Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10
I’m stoked to see this. I watched Shadow Master on Tubi a while back and was surprised at how good the action was. Then I recognized Brian Le. I’m glad he and his brother are garnering recognition. I’d love to see them get their own film project.
Sounds like it would make a good double feature with Shadow Master. I can deal with bad “everything else” as long as there’s a lot of good action.
For that matter I wasn’t keen on Bangkok Adrenaline or Bangkok Knock-Out. The former had painfully unlikable characters and bad comedy while the fight scenes were nothing more than some individual cool looking moves with no rhyme or reason. The later was like a stunt reel with an un-engaging story and bland characters surrounding it.
People who accuse Tony Jaa films of the same things haven’t watched these two films.