Hitman

Jet Li (Hero, Black Mask etc.) and Erik Tsang (Infernal Affairs) star in this wire fu action flick with an identity crisis. We start in kind of Jackie Chan territory with plenty of humour with Li a bumbling incompetent hit-man and Tsang a small time crook getting involved in a multi-million dollar 'hit'. As the film goes on all the comedy moments are forgotten and we begin to move into a serious action flick involving a bit more gun play than the usual Jet Li film, in fact it comes across at times as a cross between a Jet Li film and a John Woo heroic bloodshed type affair.

The action sequences are all to the high standard expected of Jet with a few added gun play sequences. Li is very likable in the lead role and Tsang is very good in his sidekick role showing a different persona to his performance in Infernal affairs.

Overall a fairly good hong kong action flick but the differing styles clash at times 6/10

A HK movie which doesn't have over the top music, bad dubbing, over stylish direction or bad actors deserves to get a better mention. After watching the APPALLING "Black Mask" (directed by that unfortunately highly American influenced Daniel Lee) I didn't expect much from this. I was pleasantly surprised. Good acting all round (watch for Jet li's subtle quirks), standable music, nice sound, simple and unglorified directing (check out the fight with the guy with the lasers) good fight scenes, and a solid plot make this a good change of pace from most Jet Li movies. Don't watch it for a Martial Arts Flick, just watch it for a well made action movie and you won't be disappointed. 7.5 /10

From the cover of the movie, with Jet Li dressed up in a full Swat-like body armor, swinging in a rope, I didn't really expect much. It seemed pretty cliché if you ask me. But I watched it, and boy, was I surprised. Ok, so it was dubbed. And dubbing is always bad. But the story was quite interesting, and carried out well throughout the movie.

In the opening scene a mafia boss is killed by a hitman, along with a bunch of his bodyguards. His family puts a bounty on the hitmans head (100 million dollars, to be exact... That's alot!), and they call upon all the assassins of Hong Kong to find this hitman, and kill him.

Jet Li's character, Fu, is a rookie hitman who's low on cash. He's thrown out by his roommates for not paying the bill and is wandering the streets when he hears of the 100 million dollar award for the one who finds the killer of the mafia boss. He also finds a new friend, who finds a few hits for him. However it seems that Fu isn't really that great of a hitman. Sure, he is fast, strong and well trained in the martial arts, but he's to sensitive.

They end up getting in trouble, because everyone thinks Fu's friend is the one who killed the mafia boss, and they have to run from some of Eiji's (the badguy in the movie... But is he really bad? What did he do that's so bad? Well, its obvious that he is meant to be the badguy, anyway) assassins. The end is pretty predictable (but the identity of the killer who killed the mafia boss is probably supposed to come as a surprise. It didn't.) but all in all its a good movie. Entertaining, and much, much better than most Hollywood action movies.

I give it a 8, interesting characters, plot, fights and pretty much everything. But I suppose it could have been better on some minor points. It just doesn't feel like a 10, heh.

As most other reviewers have noted, this film is a surprise. Not a standard Jet Li actioner, but an amusing buddy comedy with a pretty intricate plot. Jet Li is Fu, a mild mannered and highly skilled, ex Chinese army soldier who lives in the cheap end of town (in HK, that is). He hangs around with a bunch of blowhard hoods who get hit jobs from coded requests in the personal ads (presumably Fu wants to be one of them for the money and prestige, but I thought this aspect was a little thin. Something lost in the subtitles no doubt). A high level Japanese businessman/crook was assassinated, activating his revenge fund of $100 million and attracting bounty hunters from across the globe. Fu gets wind of the job via his little network and tries to get in on it. It is here that he meets Eric Tsang's character, a fairly seasoned lowlife, who sees Fu's potential and latches on to him, becoming his sponsor or agent. Well, they make quite a pair; one an achingly polite, meek, ass kicker (!), the other a sharply dressed professional liar with a fake resume from hell.

Surrounding these two and their odd relationship is loads of wheeling and dealing as global hit squads, the police, the dead guy's grandson and those who control the estate vie for whatever they can get out of the deal. All the while rumours circulate that the job was done by the mysterious uber-vigilante know as the Angel of Death or The King of Killers. It's a multi-lingual, multi-cultural affair that really reflects our contemporary world in a way that isn't seen often enough on screen. And by the end it's clear the film has bitten off more than it can chew, not getting the most out of the power games and some characters. But that doesn't stop it being generally well acted, exciting, funny and filled with character ( a lot more than most that share the Jet Li shelf at my video store anyway)

Do check it out.

Fast action and lots of laughs too!

In The Contract Killer, Jet Li supplies the charisma and quick kicks as a lowly trainee hitman going for the big score in tracking down the King of All Hitmen.

Li's character is in tandem with a sly, but bumbling conman, played by the great Hong Kong character actor Eric Tsang (Men Suddenly in Black, Accidental Spy), who excels at menace and comic relief. Tsang gives one of his typical 3D performance a la Bob Hoskins or Sydney Greenstreet.

A rare directorial effort from actor/stuntman Wei Tung, who also directed Magic Cop.