Someone must have been keeping a close eye on actor Jack Kesy, a relatively new face in film that’s been emerging for more than a decade with several career moves in between. With sizeable credits like FX series “The Strain,” and feature titles such as The Outpost, 12 Strong, Baywatch, and David Leitch’s Deadpool 2 among those in the portfolio, that Kesy since became the new face of superhero staple Hellboy is a welcome move that ought to shine a much-deserved light on some of his other endeavors to come, namely Bang, the newest action thriller from Saban Films and Thai director Wych “Kaos” Kaosayananda.
Indeed, some of Kaosayananda’s other titles of late have been hit-or-miss depending on your tastes; Dystopian thriller The Driver and revenge noir One Night In Bangkok, both Mark Dacascos-led vehicles, were palatable in their own way, although I can agree the latter fell a little more on the arduous end of things. The former was, in actuality, the second of a zombie trilogy that Kaosayananda intended on completing with one other martial arts star, although I’m not sure when or if that will happen, and I may opine a bit more on that in a separate piece. For now, though, I can earnestly say that his latest may offer just a bit more than what his previous work has probably been lacking.
Bang (Kesy) is a stone-cold killer in service of crime boss, Cutter (Dr. Peter Weller), the owner of an antique store serving as a front for his operations as the leader of a gang of high-end hitmen and mercenaries. Cutter garners praise, and even favor, for Bang after every kill. Bang gets paid, meets up with camgirl hookup April (Tristin Mays) for their regular booty call, then goes home, showers, works out, dabbles on his flight simulator, and spends most of his time with himself until the next job. He’s a brooding, taciturn, cigar-smoking maverick who kills for money, buries anyone Cutter needs to erase from existence, and that’s that.
It’s a job with its own fair share of perks and then some. Equally, it also proves to have its own set of risks, a fact made inherently clear when Bang narrowly survives an attempt on his own life. Little does he know, however, that a fatal car accident involving a woman in labor named Gwen (Marie Broenner) that same evening, would set the stage for a much-needed heart transplant for our protagonist which, without one, would have also left Bang with less time to live.
Regardless of whether it’s a matter of luck or providence, all Bang knows is that he’s not the same man he was before. It’s not too long, however, before Cutter makes clear Bang’s return to work as soon as possible, although with his new and eye-opening lease on life and his romantic interests toward Gwen shaping into something a little more than platonic, keeping up appearances may soon no longer be an option. With April, bitter and confused, and Cutter’s son, Johnny (Steve Bastoni) eager to prove himself, an act of betrayal will soon be the test of loyalty that forces Bang to lock and load one last time, and fight his way out for the new life he now longs for, while saving some lives in the process.
Written by Peter Lenkov and Ken Solarz, Bang comes peppered and packaged as its own thing with a concept refreshingly redone. Barring the usual slower and more cerebral moments of which there’s an abundance in some of Kaosayananda’s past movies, Bang is host to a more consistent energy and tone that doesn’t undermine the film’s pacing. Kesy’s performance and restraint allow for a modicum of vulnerability that lets the viewer embrace his transformation which feels natural with every exchange, bolstered only by a supporting cast terrifically co-led by Dr. Weller whose performance, scripted with excerpts of Italian dialogue, commands a level of authenticity that urges you to care about the “who,” the “what,” and the “why”.
Action fans might take some notice where Bang might have found some inspiration from a late-1990s Gary Daniels starrer featuring the work of one of my favorite fight choreographers. Bang has none much of the latter, really, save for at least one scene in which Kane Kosugi gets into it with another bad guy for a few minutes in the last act. Still, the action, featuring sequences by Chanchai Inthasan and their team, is mostly resigned to run-and-gun action sequences and contained gun battles, but they’re shot and performed enough to be palatable and entertaining for action tans. The stage is set brilliantly for an anti-hero you can get behind whose delivery on screen bears little to worry about, and with villains who rightly deserve what they’re getting in a story of redemption you can engage in.
The bar may feel a bit low if you’re a skeptic of Kaosayananda’s work these days, and after The Driver and One Night In Bangkok, I get it. Nonetheless, I’d say Bang is a worthy improvement. If you’ve been bingeing potboilers lately and you require an ample palate cleanser with lean doses of R-rated action and drama, small sprinkles of sex and gratuitous nudity, and some heavy-hitting villainy from one of the finest and most celebrated actors of our era, trust that the makers of Bang heard you loud and clear.
Bang is a Sixty Six Entertainment and KAOS Entertainment production, and releases in theaters, on demand and on digital beginning July 11 from Saban films.