Fulltime killer

It is the story of two professional assassins who live to kill. Both are act without remorse or second thoughts, are highly effective and completely relentless. Takashi Sorimachi plays O, the Japanese killer who is considered the best in his (admittedly limited) field. He kills efficiently, dispatching the target, his bodyguards and anyone who could identify him. He is quick, clean and much in demand by those who employ him. Andy Lau is Tok, a Chinese killer who wants to replace O but who is considered too showy and flamboyant. When O executes a hit he simply walks away and disappears into the crowd. Tok escapes on a stolen motorcycle while a police station explodes in the background.

They are brought together by Tok's envy of O and Tok's desire to replace him as the most sought after assassin in Asia. While they stalk and spy on each other, they are also linked by Miss Chin, played by the gorgeous Kelly Lin. She is O's housekeeper and Tok's girlfriend. Simon Yam is Inspector Lee of Interpol who leads a team going after both of the killers and who (literally in one case) are always just a step behind them.

There are references galore to other movies: El Mariachi and Desperado, Blood Simple, Hard Boiled, Point Break, The Godfather, Samurai and probably plenty of others that I missed. Even the Warner Brothers cartoons of Chuck Jones are referenced—one of the more outrageous assassinations by Tok has "Largo Factorum" from The Barber of Seville accompanying the action, in much the same way that Bugs Bunny committed mayhem to the tune of Mozart, Wagner or Rossini.

The action scenes are excellent. There are cars that blow up when shot, pistols that are accurate at 500 yards and huge shotguns that appear from beneath short leather jackets but even with these clichés the action set pieces created by Johnny To are exciting, fast paced, very violent and seamlessly shot and edited.

Sorimachi is properly dour and brooding, almost phlegmatic. His understated acting personifies the loneliness and isolation of his character. Lau, in keeping with his character, has a much more florid style—Tok could be a full time smirker as well as a full time killer.

While not exactly a return to heroic bloodshed—there aren't any heroes here—Fulltime Killer uses many of that genre's conventions. Very much worth seeing and recommended.

For those of us out there that miss the "Old" John Woo from The Killer, Hard Boiled, and A Better Tomorrow 1&2, Johnny To comes to pick up where Woo left off with Fulltime Killers. Now while some call that a blatant bootleg or hijacking of John Woo's style, I call it a pleasant revisit.

Andy Lau plays Tok, a flamboyant leather clad professional killer who not only takes pride in his work but also looks to put himself in the spotlight with every kill he makes. Tok is a sort of tribute to one Castor Troy of Face-Off, with his flair and his trademark smile which he flashes at all times. Takashi Sorimachi plays O, a more traditional killer with a guilty conscience, who stays in the shadows and executes his job keeping himself out of the spotlight. O's guilty conscience is the result of an innocent getting caught up in his world. O is something of a tribute to Chow Yun-Fat's character in The Killer. As a result of O's more low-key approach he is the highest ranked and most sought after professional much to the dismay of Tok. Naturally a rivalry will result between these two polar opposites in an attempt to be the top.

Acting as a catalyst to this rivalry is the lovely Kelly Lin, playing Chin, a mild-mannered video store clerk who is bored by life. An incidental visit by Tok to her video store, and a second job cleaning O's apartment begins a chain of events that puts her in the middle of these two professional killers rivalry.

Fulltime Killer provides mind-blowing action scenes and a love triangle that even guys don't mind keeping up with. A throughly entertaining movie and a throwback to the "old" John Woo puts this movie high on my list. Give it a chance, and you'll be entertained at the very least.

Fantastic blood and bullets thriller starring Andy Lau and Takashi Sorimachi as Tok and O , two hitmen at the top of their game. O is the number 1 killer, he does his job and gets away clean. Tok is a showman, taking risks but always making them pay. To be number 1 he knows he has to defeat O, and begins to stalk his prey. Along the way, both hitmen fall for Chin (Kelly Lin), a young Taiwanese woman, and attract the attention of Lee (Simon Yam), a cop determined to bring them both down.

So far, so familiar, but Johnny To delivers a film that ascends over its premise to become a classic of the genre. The action sets are expertly done, and everyone looks totally cool - especially Lau. Slo-mo and visual effects are used but not overused, and there was clearly a decent budget getting thrown around (the list of sponsors in the credits attests to that). There's more depth here than in an average film of its ilk, but there's also a delightful sense of glee in the action pieces that make you think that those involved thankfully weren't taking it completely seriously.

If you're a fan of ‘heroic bloodshed' action and for whatever reason haven't seen this yet, do yourself a favour.

I just finished seeing Fulltime Killer. What a pleasant surprise. 2 months ago, I was sorely disappointed with the flicks that H.K churned out. Apparently, i was tired of watching every action directors in H.K imitating Tsui Hark, John Woo, Ringo Lam, and Johnny To. Every movie I saw, there was that typical shaky cameras, and sweeping movements, making everything seemed cooler than it actually is. Even the Greats imitated themselves in such mess as Zu Warriors. But then I saw Shaolin Soccer, and that shook my disturbed belief a bit. And today, I saw Fulltime Killer, and my faith in H.K is fully restored. I know that Fulltime Killer is nothing original, compared to the action classics such as "the Killer", but it was done right for once. I found myself lost in Johnny To's perspective of this excellent story. In the end, I took what seemed like the first breath since the opening of the film. Apparently I had a very good time. I was certainly pleasantly surprised. I found that every actors did their jobs well. Andy Lau, who always seemed a bit feminine to me fit the role well, and made it work. I was impressed with Takeshi's performance. Although his role seemed very stereotypical and slightly less demanding, he made it work well. I found myself in awe with Kelly Lin's portrayal of the innocent girl. The action scenes were very well done. Although they were noting revolutionary as the recent films "crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" or "time and Tide", but I found them incredibly effective. The Music was certainly the highlight of the film. Its haunting theme weave in well with the scenes, and made them alive. All in All.... not the most original, but at this day and age, it's almost impossible to find originality. Very fun time, and quite a pleasant surprise.

This movie's action sequences blew me away, with how it was shot and the camera angles, i also like the way the dramatic music was used in order to express the emotions of the characters during the action scenes. As for the story, its not really that unique, it somehow reminded me of the movie, "Assasins" w/ Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas. But its still a great action movie overall, it felt like a refreshment after seeing all the horrible action movies that they show here in the U.S. I definitely recommend this film for anyone who likes a lot of Shoot-em up ation, but only if you have already seen A Better Tomorrow, The Killer, or maybe even Hard Boiled, if that is not the case then I suggest you watch those first until you get sick of it.