Hot headed but good with his fists and feet L.A. cop Andrew Kang (Sao) successfully apprehends the US based point man (Le) of an infamous Thai drug cartel. Assuming the captured criminal’s identity, Kang convinces his superiors to send him undercover to Thailand to infiltrate and bust the gang once and for all. Arriving in Bangkok, he teams up with Charn (Bishop), one of the lead enforcers for the drug gang. Cruising the nighttime streets of Bangkok, the two party and do the gang’s dirty work, Kang gaining the trust of Charn and reporting his findings back to his superiors. But as Kang goes deeper into the crime life and bonds with Charn, he soon finds his allegiances tested and with the point man he’s impersonating busting out of prison and heading to the city, all hell is about to break loose in Bangkok.
Flying fist first as if it’s from the straight-to-video 90s action movie heyday, ‘Bangkok Dog’ is a no frills, fast and furious, fight film. Essentially a showcase to let stars D.Y. Sao and Brian Le stretch their considerable on-screen fighting and choreography skills, the film shoots straight out of the gate with fisticuffs and rarely lets up during its 85-minute runtime. Narrative is scant, production is rough around the edges, and this isn’t nothing we haven’t seen from the genre before, but ‘Bangkok Dog’ does rocket along on well-staged fight action. Coming from the ‘Ong-Bak’ style wheelhouse (which is non-surprisingly as one of the main producers is that film’s director, Prachya Pinkaew), Sao, Le and their crew pack in some impressive and imaginative fight action culminating in an epic brawl with the two leads.
Almost as good as their sustained showdown in their previous team-up ‘Shadowmaster’ (which was also produced by Pinkaew), Sao and Le are impressive fighters (having also worked on the likes of ‘Shang-Chi’, ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’, ‘The Paper Tigers’) and the fights come thick and fast. Which is a good thing really, as the acting and motivations of the characters can be a little wonky, though Byron Bishop (‘The Prey’, ‘Kate’) brings some much-needed dry wit as the rather likeable gang enforcer. Sao with his perpetual pout, seems to just shrug and smirk his way through the dramatic scenes (looking like he can’t wait for the next action scene – which is fair as he’s an impressive and acrobatic fighter!) but Brian Le is fun as the over-the-top, whirling-of-kick bad guy.
It may not impress those who loathe B-movies, and it gets an extra star for the creative action, but ‘Bangkok Dog’ is a (mostly) banging B-movie bust-up.
- Bangkok Dog - August 4, 2025
- The Tattooed Dragon - July 23, 2025
- The Killer - July 11, 2025
