FilmFan
01-13-2010, 05:28 AM
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The Killer aka Dip huet seung hung
Running time: 111 minutes
Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat
IMDB rating: 8.0
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/
Like Hard Boiled, which I watched and reviewed a few months ago, The Killer is an all-action thriller, directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat. I was as keen on Hard Boiled as most are, feeling that the much-praised action scenes were overly-long and stretched out. Here however, I enjoyed the shoot outs more. Whether they were a bit more to thepoint and less overblown I'm not certain, but it felt that way. Perhaps it's just that Woo's style has grown on me a bit more since last time.
Ah Jong is a hitman who works for the Triads in Hong Kong. While performing what he intends to be his last hit, a young woman walks in, and is hurt in the shootout between Ah Jong and the gang that he's targetting. After finishing the job, he finds out that the woman's eyesight was badly damaged by the incident, and she needs a cornea transplant to be able to see.
Compassionate guy that he is, Ah Jong approaches her in the bar in which she sings, and (claiming to be a fan of her performances) strikes up a friendship with her, intending to pay for her operation.
In order to raise the money, he takes one last job, which is given to him by his friend, who is a respected Triad elder and former hitman himself. The target is a crooked politican who will be at the coast for a big event.
Ah Jong carries out the hit with a sniper rifle from a speedboat and then evades the pursuing police and heads to a nearby island. Once he comes ashore, however, a gang of armed men are waiting for him, and he narrowly escapes with his life (killing a large number of criminals in entertaining fashion along the way, of course).
Once more, an innocent is injured in the process, and again his conscience requires that he help them (in this case a young child). With the police having reached the island, the armed men still trying to kill him, and a young girl in need of a trip to the hospital, things become pretty hectic.
After dropping her off at the hospital and returning home, Ah Jong now has to work both on evading the police who are coming closer and closer to discovering his identity, and he also must discover why the people he works for are trying to have him killed.
I thought this was pretty good. The action scenes were great (as long as you don't mind suspending your disbelief just a tad) and the storyline was superior to most films of the genre. Chow Yun Fat is one of my favourite Asian actors, so that was a plus as well.
A key theme of the film is the similarities between the hitman and the police officer pursuing him. Both operate under their own sense of right and right, and both are determined and willing to go to great lengths in order to reach their goal. This element of the story was certainly a positive thing, although the fact that it's spoken about on 2-3 different occassions wasn't. I think that a writer-director should show that to the audience through the actions of the characters, rather than have it clearly stated in dialogue. Still, this is only a minor issue and probably a matter of personal taste. Overall the dynamic between the two of them is very well crafted.
Some films are able to appeal to a broad range of people, and some are only likely to be enjoyed by fans of the genre. I think that The Killer falls into the latter category, but it's good enough and fun enough that I'd rate it as one of the better action films out there, and probably the best Asian gangster/cop film that I've seen.
7 out of 10
The Killer aka Dip huet seung hung
Running time: 111 minutes
Directed by: John Woo
Starring: Chow Yun-Fat
IMDB rating: 8.0
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097202/
Like Hard Boiled, which I watched and reviewed a few months ago, The Killer is an all-action thriller, directed by John Woo and starring Chow Yun-Fat. I was as keen on Hard Boiled as most are, feeling that the much-praised action scenes were overly-long and stretched out. Here however, I enjoyed the shoot outs more. Whether they were a bit more to thepoint and less overblown I'm not certain, but it felt that way. Perhaps it's just that Woo's style has grown on me a bit more since last time.
Ah Jong is a hitman who works for the Triads in Hong Kong. While performing what he intends to be his last hit, a young woman walks in, and is hurt in the shootout between Ah Jong and the gang that he's targetting. After finishing the job, he finds out that the woman's eyesight was badly damaged by the incident, and she needs a cornea transplant to be able to see.
Compassionate guy that he is, Ah Jong approaches her in the bar in which she sings, and (claiming to be a fan of her performances) strikes up a friendship with her, intending to pay for her operation.
In order to raise the money, he takes one last job, which is given to him by his friend, who is a respected Triad elder and former hitman himself. The target is a crooked politican who will be at the coast for a big event.
Ah Jong carries out the hit with a sniper rifle from a speedboat and then evades the pursuing police and heads to a nearby island. Once he comes ashore, however, a gang of armed men are waiting for him, and he narrowly escapes with his life (killing a large number of criminals in entertaining fashion along the way, of course).
Once more, an innocent is injured in the process, and again his conscience requires that he help them (in this case a young child). With the police having reached the island, the armed men still trying to kill him, and a young girl in need of a trip to the hospital, things become pretty hectic.
After dropping her off at the hospital and returning home, Ah Jong now has to work both on evading the police who are coming closer and closer to discovering his identity, and he also must discover why the people he works for are trying to have him killed.
I thought this was pretty good. The action scenes were great (as long as you don't mind suspending your disbelief just a tad) and the storyline was superior to most films of the genre. Chow Yun Fat is one of my favourite Asian actors, so that was a plus as well.
A key theme of the film is the similarities between the hitman and the police officer pursuing him. Both operate under their own sense of right and right, and both are determined and willing to go to great lengths in order to reach their goal. This element of the story was certainly a positive thing, although the fact that it's spoken about on 2-3 different occassions wasn't. I think that a writer-director should show that to the audience through the actions of the characters, rather than have it clearly stated in dialogue. Still, this is only a minor issue and probably a matter of personal taste. Overall the dynamic between the two of them is very well crafted.
Some films are able to appeal to a broad range of people, and some are only likely to be enjoyed by fans of the genre. I think that The Killer falls into the latter category, but it's good enough and fun enough that I'd rate it as one of the better action films out there, and probably the best Asian gangster/cop film that I've seen.
7 out of 10