Don't ask questions — there is no right and wrong. Don't take an interest in people. Know when to get out. Leave no traces.

But Nicolas Cage breaks all his own rules as Joe, an assassin with a burgeoning conscience in this macabre action thriller set in the stylised backstreets of the Thai capital.

It is easy to be skeptical about yet another of the flood of Asian remakes filling the Hollywood dearth of imagination but give this one a chance and you'll be pleasantly surprised. What it lacks in depth and plot complexity, is made up by style and execution.

Yes the inevitable go-go bar and canal hawker clichés can make you go a shade of Thai Green but with the Pang brothers bringing their Far Eastern sensibilities to the directors chairs, this East-West collaboration is a firm hit if not quite dead on target.

The movie is a remake of the critically acclaimed 1999 film of the same name but strays from its central themes: Cage's Joe is not the ruthless deaf-mute hitman of the original, so as not to conceal his star quality. Instead, it is Panward Hemmanee as the pixie-like love interest, who is shorn of the ability to speak.

The cinematography is spell-binding with the lighting particularly sumptuous as the action unfolds in dingy, claustrophobic alleys, the inevitable red-light district, and even progressing through to a running gun-battle in the crimson hues of a water-bottle factory set to the backdrop of Brian Tyler's psychedelic score.

The blood is a nasty shade of black here, a clue to the Pangs' grounding in the horror flick. Other trademarks of the Hong Kong twins are evident: the unmotivated fast paced editing and invisible jump cuts, and the blackout seconds before the kill add intensity to what is admittedly a simple narrative.

Cage delivers a commanding performance as the taut, swarthy lead, and Shahkrit Yamnarm does a comic turn as Kong, streetsmart errand boy turned protégé. Joe lets down his guard after Kong runs into trouble and pleads for his help, unleashing an explosive series of events, that leads to a poignant climax in keeping with the best traditions of Asian filmmaking and as far-removed from Hollywood-style happily-ever-afters as you are likely to see.

Cage's appearance warrants a double take. With long hair that looks like it is about to turn into dreadlocks, and dressed in middle-aged mediocrity, he has all the panache of a bloated mannequin. Not the suave stereotype then and a good thing too.

Interestingly, the picture was shooting during the 19 September 2007 coup d'etat but filming only stopped for six hours. This movie, unlike the coup, is anything but bloodless and is a fine companion to that other Cage vehicle, 'The Lord of War'.