Bangkok Dog Goes Deep Undercover to Fight Crime

Martial arts movies are always a risk. The trailers usually focus so much on the action that you have no idea how the rest of the film is going to turn out, so no matter how good they may look, you’re never really sure what you’re in for when you sit down to watch one. And when I decided to review Bangkok Dog, I was in that same boat. The trailer showcased a bunch of super fun action, but I didn’t know if the story would be any good. It was a risk, but I decided to roll the dice and give it a shot. I’m always down to watch people beat each other up in the most visually stunning way possible, so I was excited to see what this movie could bring to the table.

Bangkok Dog was directed by Chaya Supannarat, and it stars D.Y. Sao, Brian Le, Byron Bishop, Jenny Philomena Van Der Sluijs, and Sahajak Boonthanakit. In the film, Andrew Kang is a US special agent who intercepts a drug shipment from Thailand, and along with his partner Kaitlyn, he arrests Benz Wu, the guy leading the operation. They bring the criminal back to HQ for questioning, but it soon becomes apparent that there’s a lot more work to do.

Putting Benz behind bars hasn’t deterred the Thai cartel from continuing to smuggle drugs into the states, so Andrew realizes that he has to root this problem out at the source. He decides to go to Thailand and impersonate Benz, and as he works hard to convince his underworld boss that he’s the real deal, the special agent begins to lose himself in this new life of organized crime.

As is often the case with action movies, Bangkok Dog establishes its ass-kicking credentials right away. The film starts with the drug bust, and as luck would have it, several of the people involved, both cops and criminals, are expert hand-to-hand fighters. They pull off complicated spinning kicks and lightning-fast punches with ease, and I had an absolute blast watching them.

In fact, the action in this movie is fantastic all the way through, so whenever fists start flying, fans are sure to have a good time. The choreography is excellent, the actors themselves are amazing martial artists with pin-point accuracy, and the cinematography makes these fights incredibly easy to follow.

Sure, the camera will cut to a new angle every now and then, but unlike in a lot of flicks today (especially American ones), it doesn’t obscure the action. The shots last long enough that you’ll have no problem making out every single strike, slash, and throw, so you can fully appreciate the visual artistry on display.

In particular, I have to give special mention to D.Y. Sao. He plays Andrew (and he’s also one of the fight choreographers!), and he perfectly blends the flashy techniques we expect from modern martial arts films with the simpler style you often see in old kung fu movies. In fact, there are multiple times when his quick, staccato movements and nearly over-the-top facial expressions pay more than a little homage to Bruce Lee, and as a guy who grew up watching Bruce Lee with my dad, I ate up every second of it.

All that being said, I also had some big problems with Bangkok Dog. Sure, the action is the heart and soul of a movie like this, but it can’t stand alone. The filmmakers also need to craft a good story around those fight scenes, and unfortunately, Bangkok Dog falls pretty short in that department.

To begin, the performances in this film are very hit or miss. Some of these actors are quite good, but enough of them deliver their lines with a cringeworthy woodenness that they really drag the entire experience down. I simply couldn’t take this story seriously, and that was before I got into the real meat of the narrative.

Bangkok Dog is largely the tale of a man who risks losing his humanity to take down a dangerous crime boss, and seeing Andrew get more and more comfortable with this undercover life is supposed to take you on an emotional roller coaster ride. But for my money, it’s not believable at all.

Sure, the guy does show some hesitancy the first time his new boss asks him to do something horrible, and he even continues to display unease about the man’s cruel methods for a few minutes afterwards. But that’s pretty much it. From there, Andrew dives head-first into a life of seemingly non-stop fighting and partying, and he appears to have a great time doing it.

Then, when our lead character has to get himself back together, he reverts to special agent mode without much struggle. It’s like he never went undercover in the first place, and I found that entire arc pretty unconvincing.

Along with the poor acting, it soured my experience quite a bit, so when the credits began to roll, I was rather ambivalent about Bangkok Dog. The action is great, so I’m glad I got to watch this film. But because the story is so weak, I don’t see myself ever wanting to revisit it the way I love rewatching, say, John Wick or Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In.

And if you’re wondering whether you should watch this movie, I’d give it a very mixed recommendation. If you just want to see some amazing martial arts and you don’t care about anything else, you’ll get your money’s worth with Bangkok Dog. But if you want anything more than that, I suggest giving the film a pass. Sure, you’ll be missing out on some fun action, but you can get that in plenty of other movies that have much better stories.

Bangkok Dog is set to hit VOD on November 12.

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Bangkok Dog Goes Deep Undercover to Fight Crime

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