Sat sat yan, tiu tiu mo

Having done his part as an action director, or uncredited director, in many films since the start of his career, the great Donnie Yen made a point of becoming a serious director around the late 90's, launching with the fantastic Legend Of The Wolf. It was a great debut, though not without its flaws, and following that came this and Shanghai Affairs a year later!

With beautiful cinematography by Wong Ka Fai, Ballistic Kiss is an art-house, martial arts thriller. Its important to know that before watching, as fans of Yen's work (both before and after SPL) may find it somewhat disappointing. It doesn't have explosive, powerhouse fight scenes every few minutes (although they do come about), nor does it have insane stunts and cop chases like his Yuen Woo PIng directed vehicles did. Instead, the Kiss has style, with stylish Hong Kong action - almost as if Wong Kar Wai had directed The Killer...

Donnie still gets to throw some amazing moves, and we get a good dose of gun-fu, but while it is far from being as amazing as the John Woo classic, Ballistic Kiss still makes for a damn good movie, and an important piece in Donnie's career. Although Bey Logan's script could have been refined somewhat, Yen works with what he has and delivers on the action and his performance in the role of a hitman with a heart, who falls for his hostage, played by the lovely Annie Wu.

Packed with visual flair and keeping a steady pace, Ballistic Kiss is accompanied by a memorable score that reminded me of a Studio Ghibli movie, some beautifully lit shots, and a great cast. Donnie's Shanghai Affairs co-star, the great Yu Rong Kwong, appears briefly for a great shoot-out against Yen, and it was nice to see big Mike Woods pop up for a bit in what would be his last role in a Hong Kong movie.

Overall: Heroic bloodshed at its most stylish, and an underrated Yen flick, Ballistic Kiss is pretty damn good and shows Donnie in a one-time-only role that doesn't disappoint!

Before I saw this film I read an interview with Donnie Yen where he said that he puts his blood and passion into everyshot. I think he was indeed very passionate about this film. While I don't think it is perfect it is a great stylished modern gun-fu action film. Hardcore action fans maybe bummed about the pace. I think it is just right.

The improvement from Donnie's first two films is right on the screen. I do think his other films are good, don't get me wrong. Having recently seen princess blade on the big screen I think what I like about Donnie yen's fight scenes is they are very much a part of the film. The fights come from a balenced sense of cinema and Kung Fu.

Miramax needs to give Donnie the budget and put him behind the camera on a high brow Iron monkey 2. Watching blasstic kiss should give them faith.

Wow, this film is utterly UNFORGIVABLE.

Donnie Yen is an incredible martial-arts talent who should utterly claim this film as his alan smithee masterpiece. God knows he couldn't be bothered to remove hisself as the film's lead. Usually, when watching an HK actioner you should suspend your disbelief to an unbearable degree. John Woo's HK films made this easy and fun to watch. But here the viewer is utterly dragged kicking and screaming into utter garbage. The acting was top notch, for most HK flicks, and thought he story was essentially striving to free itself there was no resurrection. Instead what we have here is a failure to entertain as we are subjected to uninspired fights, mingled with shameful gunplay, and some bad guys/heavies that are so happy go lucky that I'd probably play "Yut, Yee, Sum!" drinking games with 'til dawn. THESE BAD GUYS WERE SO UNTHREATENING THAT TRIX BUNNY ON MY TV RIGHT NOW LOOKS LIKE CHARLIE MANSON, IN COMPARISON.

Did I come into this flick wanting to hate it? HELL NO! Donnie Yen is cool, he's cooler than cool. This guy is action nitro glycerine times a thousand plus infinity. But here, in a film he directed no less, it's a heartbreaking waste. I encourage those who get caught up with the flashy title to instead search for something meaningful, like John Woo's earlier films. Hell, even Mission Impossible 2 was better than this. Yowza!

Donnie, let other people direct. I have only so much respect for you, buddy. Don't make me lose any more.

Having spent 6 years in an American prison for a crime he did not commit, a former police officer named "Cat Lee" (Donnie Yen) travels to Hong Kong where he has taken up a new vocation as an assassin in which his targets are known gangsters. Needless to say, the police don't take kindly to the number of dead bodies he leaves in his wake and fearing an all-out war between rival gangs they immediately begin an investigation to find out the identity of this lone hit-man. Among those given this assignment is a young female police agent by the name of "Carrie" (Annie Wu) who desperately tries to figure him out. What she doesn't know is that Cat has an attraction for her and the closer she gets the more dangerous it becomes for the both of them. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this had all the basic ingredients necessary for a good crime-action movie with solid acting and an intricate plot. Unfortunately, the almost complete lack of character development made the film difficult to comprehend at times while the over-the-top action scenes were simply too unrealistic to be taken seriously. Likewise, I didn't especially care for the ending either. In any case, while not necessarily a bad film by any means, I honestly thought the flaws were too obvious to be ignored and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

Not since John Woo left Hong Kong has the once very popular genre of the Professional Killer seen such an explosion of style and action. The guns never empty and the camera never stops in this killer-loves-cop action drama. Don't miss it!