I love all things martial arts and Mark Dacascos is one of my all-time favorites. Add to that another favorite in Kane Kosugi and you have a movie that instantly peaks my interest. Now they are teaming up for the new flick One Night In Bangkok that will hopefully give me that much needed martial arts action from two of my onscreen heroes. Could this flick bring the action or will it never make it out of the car?

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One Night In Bangkok follows a man named Kai who flies into Bangkok, gets a gun, and orders a cab. He offers a professional female driver big money to be his all-night driver. But when she realizes Kai is committing brutal murders at each stop, it’s too late to walk away. Meanwhile, an offbeat police detective races to decode the string of slayings before more blood is spilled.

 

With these two guys involved I was instantly interested, but have to break the sad news to the hardcore martial arts film that this is not that. This is more of a thriller than an action film but does in fact include some fighting and shoot outs. Instead of the martial arts action you may be expecting its played up for more real life style action which makes way more sense to the story they are telling than the one they actually tell you in the synopsis.

 

I enjoyed the film that is very much in line with the 2004 film Collateral starring Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx in the direction of it all. From there this film does its own thing with Dacascos flexing the acting chops as he brings varying levels of emotion to this role and what he is dealing with. He has great chemistry with co-star Vanida Golten whom is the driver that is sucked into this whole mess. Kane Kosugi is only here for a small cameo at the end and while they do have a confrontation it is not the epic fight fans hope for.

 

Where this issue really is falls with the promotions and some actual mistakes in the synopsis. The description nd box art showcases Kane Kosugi as the co-star and the officer on the trail of Dacascos, but in fact that character is actually played by Prinya Intachai. He is fine in the role, but it was a bit disheartening to realize that this was misleading info and will no doubt upset some. Kosugi is good in the small role he has and is important to the bigger story, but it would have been so much cooler for it to be a surprise cameo like he had in The Driver.

 

While not the film I was hoping for it still delivers and interesting story of loss, revenge and redemption that fans should check out. Grab your copy of One Night In Bangkok when it hits DVD on August 25 from Lionsgate Home Entertainment.