YOU can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, not that it has stopped brothers Oxide and Danny Pang trying.

Nine years after they dazzled audiences with the stylish yet predictable thriller Bangkok Dangerous, the Hong Kong filmmakers take the bold step of directing an English language remake.

The screenplay is no longer theirs.

Instead, Jason Richman, who penned the disagreeable Anthony Hopkins-Chris Rock buddy movie Bad Company, brings a westerner's eye to this testosterone-fuelled tale of a hit man's final hurrah on the crime-riddled streets of the Thai capital.

The impeccable credentials of marksman Joe London (Cage) are established in a nervy prologue set in night time Prague.

From here, Joe flies to "corrupt, dirty and dense" Bangkok at the behest of crime boss Surat (Nirattisai Kaljareuk) to assassinate four gangland and political enemies, including the Minister of the Interior.

The American assassin hires pickpocket Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm) as an errand boy, intending to kill the punk once the contract is complete.

However, the usually cold and aloof Joe forges an emotional bond with Kong and reluctantly embraces the role of mentor.

Just as Joe begins to let his emotional guard down, even falling in love with deaf mute pharmacist Fon (Charlie Young), the hit man discovers Surat intends to double-cross him.

Like the original, the new Bangkok Dangerous draws heavily on the Pang brothers' visual flourishes, underpinned by sterling work from cinematographer Decha Simantra.

Cage plays his part with utmost seriousness, Yamnarm exudes roguish charm in his underwritten role, and the romance with the luminous Young teeters on the verge of laughable, with Cage making puppy dog eyes at the object of his affection in a way that would be creepy if it weren't so pathetic.

Love is blind, deaf, and dumb.

  • See it at Empire, ABC