There was a time when Nicholas Cage was a respectable action star. “Face/Off,” “The Rock” and to a lesser extent “Con Air” were pretty good. Now trying to bank of the “National Treasure” success, he teams up with the Pang Brothers in remaking their own action film, “Bangkok Dangerous.”

Joe (Cage) is a successful hit man that never slips up because he adheres to four rules. Once he arrives in Bangkok, he manages to break all four rules and all hell breaks loose. He ends up taking in a student and falling love with a deaf girl.

The Pang Brothers should stay with scary movies (they made the original “Eye” film, not the garbage Jessica Alba was in) because they look out of their element in making action films. They use some elements of horror to make the action more exciting. It really wasn’t. This movie has action that someone enrolled in Action 101 can do. Even Michael Bay would’ve thrown a few unnecessary explosions for kicks. We don’t see any of that and it makes this movie more laboring because now we have to focus on the interactions between the characters.

Other than Cage, none of these characters look like they can speak a lick of English, which means they keep the atmosphere of Thailand authentic. But it’s also hard to connect with the audience in non-verbal cues if it’s done wrong. Cage can’t salvage that, or his action career. Don’t expect Cage to be running around and chasing people anymore (unless Disney decides to do a third “National Treasure” so help us).