Cutthroat assassin movies aren't usually my thing, and on the rare occasion that I do give in to an ultra-violent actioner, it's probably not going to star Nicolas Cage.

Unfortunately, Bangkok Dangerous -- which belongs to the aforementioned genre -- does star Nicolas Cage. The sometime Family Man who recently discovered his passion for heroism as flaming comic-book vigilante Ghost Rider falls to the dark side as Joe, a heartless hitman who justifies his, um, career moves by saying the people he murders are bad.

While Cage -- who, for me, is at his best playing the hapless nice guy, as in The Weather Man -- is making an effort to summon the troubled warrior within, it's hard to accept him for the cold-blooded killer he's trying to be.

Especially if you've already seen the numbness Thai actor Pawalit Mongkolpisit displayed in the same role in twin Hong Kong directors Oxide and Danny Pang's first version of the flick in 1999.

And, really, we all might as well face the fact that when it comes to Cage, it's all about the hairpiece -- a scraggly, black cross between Michael Myers' creepy coif and Gene Simmons' frizzy 'do in this case.

The film itself is a glossier, tourist's version of the gritty, stylistic original. Joe -- or at least that's what he calls himself -- arrives in Bangkok with four jobs on his docket. After settling in to a secret lair, he plucks an errand boy, Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), from the congested city streets and gets down to business.

As mean and expressionless as he is, Joe has been a sniper for far too long and is beginning to develop a conscience. He even falls for fresh-faced pharmacist Fon, who is deaf. Naturally, that's when things go awry.

Naive, doe-eyed Kong also tugs at Joe's heartstrings to the point where he lets him be his student and eventually his sidekick. The character didn't exist in the initial flick, but Yamnarm is a welcome addition not only for his warmth, but for the comic relief he provides (if the hairpiece doesn't cut it for you).

Displays of Joe's newfound emotions are alternated with scenes where he does away with his victims -- typically with guns, although one more elaborate killing involves a gangster being taken down in a hotel swimming pool.

With this glamourized Hollywood entry, the Pang brothers (The Messengers) stay fairly true to their original. The main difference is where the original anti-hero (played by Mongkolpisit) was a deaf-mute, the American anti-hero isn't. The disability was given to Fon, Cage's love interest in the new film.

Any way you paint it, it's a bloodfest -- if that sort of thing floats your boat.

(This film is rated 18-A)

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