O Matador

First of all, I am disgusted by some of these reviews. Modern action has been overrun by special effects and stuntmen with death wishes (not that I'm complaining), but one must consider the time and the place. It's not the world of the Matrix or the Human-Cyborg War (or whatever it's called) in the Terminator, it's Hong Kong in the 1980's with counterfeiting, hostile Chinese syndicates. It doesn't have to be a big budget feature to be great. Clerks by Kevin Smith had a minute budget, but it made Smith famous.

I digress. Woo creates a sensitive and emotionally complex... assassin. To make him reconsider his job as a professional killing machine Jeffrey, the killer, blinds a lounge singer, Jenny. He swears to himself that he will end his career after one last job. Woo introduces us to the concept, like you see in A Better Tomorrow, that you can never leave a Triad even if you try your hardest. With an hour of attempting, Jeff realizes the horrible truth. Rarely does Woo bring in this feeling of absolute futility in his work. After losing his best friend, Jeff has crossed the Rubicon in his attempts and must end his ties to it by ending his everyone's but his own, excluding Jenny and Inspector Lee. Some people dislike the final shootout, but the doves and the Christian symbology adds a touch that drives religious and heroic bloodshed to the minds of the audience. On a personal note, I love it. The last few seconds depict a man, perhaps Lee, playing a harmonica in front of the church for reasons I don't know.

"Heroic bloodshed" and "gun fu" were sub-genres coined by John Woo during the mid-80s, starting with A Better Tomorrow. This was a film that marked Woo as a rising artist within Hong Kong cinema of the modern age. After making a sequel to A Better Tomorrow, Woo went and directed The Killer, followed by Bullet in the Head and Hard-Boiled, these films proved his talent as a director who was able to illustrate ultra-violence, through what closely resembled ballet (a.k.a. in this sense, a dance of death). These outrageously stylised methods of film-making hastily became noted by Hollywood producers and Woo –via a mistake on his behalf- decided to make his move to the place where financing was merely an accessory. Ever since this move, Woo has crafted numerous well-known works of commercial success, but critical failure (unlike his earlier pictures), including the likes of Broken Arrow, Face/Off, Mission Impossible 2 and Windtalkers. Shame, considering these lacked everything that his trademark works created, but can be expected with the restrictions Hollywood producers commonly put in place. Fortunately, his '80s legacy lives on and still has an acute influence on many mainstream directors of today.

The Killer propelled Woo's career, as well as that of Chow Yun-Fat, who took the title role of Ah Jong. Although, he plays an assassin, he is the kind who is out to get "the bad guys", and follows a strict code of honour and ethics. Compassionate, sympathetic and remorseful of the way in which he leads his life, Ah Jong begins to become more cynical of the brutality he savours. After accidentally blinding an innocent singer (who he later falls in love with) during a gunfight, Ah Jong's remorse overwhelms him to such a degree that he becomes determined to get a vital donor that could potentially save her eyesight. In order to finance this, Ah Jong settles a final hit, which soon spirals out of control. Law enforcement inevitably becomes aware of the destruction wreaking its way throughout Hong Kong because of the triads. Nonetheless, the cop on the case happens to be understanding of Ah Jong, and as both relate to each other they start to unexpectedly develop an unexpected partnership.

In 1992, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs was released; now, it should be noted that the white suits used in The Killer admittedly inspired those now-infamous black suits. I bring this up because I wish to present one of the main techniques utilised in Woo's 1989, action classic. Such a procedure is contrasting the lashings of blood (shown during the countless fight scenes) against the calm, white clothing. Waving a white cloth, for example, is a sign of retreat, or peace and placing blood on white is an opposing confliction. Transcending everything that most action films can only dream of, The Killer combines a compulsory fusion of intelligence and entertainment. Then there is the paradox (as such) of both the cop and the killer using guns, but for differing reasons. Essentially, both are committing the same acts, through similar methods, but for different reasons. The two men have a certain confidence and an explicit willingness to seek fulfilment and justice, which enables a parable to be crafted between the two individuals.

Edited with a glaring visual stance, filmed through bright colour filters and following bare-knuckled narrative management, The Killer packs a well-placed gut-punch. Engaging the viewer through ultra-cool protagonists and beautifully choreographed fight scenes, this grand, wry take on the idealistic assumption of decency within the world of organised crime remains a work of bloodshed which holds artistic significance. Even with the overly dramatised screenplay (echoing a consistent waft of unsuited, moralistic sentimentality) and the dated '80s soundtrack, the piece is an extravagant and exciting take on a temperamental genre. Containing metaphors (the doves extinguishing the flames on a collection of candles) and the use of a church for a set-piece, the film is vastly unique for what is adrenaline-based action. Saying that, most directors would opt for endless cuts as a means of groping the viewer's attention, Woo on-the-other-hand avoids such an amateurish technique, choosing a cultivated approach. The finished result is a concoction of mind-boggling stand-offs and humanistic undertones, enabling it to become a motivating take on a seemingly predictable genre and an ode to the classic westerns (who said The Wild Bunch?). Remember, Chow Yun-Fat is for action, what John Wayne was for the western.

Before seeing a genuine Hong-Kong produced John Woo movie, I thought I knew what action was, and what the action-movie genre was capable of. I was wrong. The Killer was the single most impressive, awe-inspiring, jaw-dropping action movie I had seen in years, and is now one of my favourite movies of any genre. It is #2 on my all-time list.

Why? First of all, the well-known poetic violence of the super-charged action scenes make for a tremendously exciting film. These combine choreographed bloodshed (there is an almost constant stream of bullets) with raw emotion that puts even the best Hollywood actioners to shame. Look at Hollywood action movies today; almost all Hollywood action is inspired (not to mention plagiarised) from the "heroic bloodshed films," the best of which is The Killer.

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez are only the most obvious examples of American directors to put Woo's trademark stylized violence to use, and neither handle it as well as Woo.

But beyond this, the characters and the story are what drive this movie and what truly set it apart. The story of the relentless cop and the vicious killer is only the latest in a long line of detective stories, starting with Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allan Poe in the 19th century, and continuing in every cop show on TV today. The hero and the villain are practically the same; they are only divided by an almost arbitrary line called the law. In The Killer, both "Mickey Mouse" and "Dumbo" are unrelenting, capable, though misunderstood, professionals. Their motivations differ, but they both have the killer instinct. The classic storyline of the interaction of the two characters who eventually realize their similarities and end up working together has been seen before, but never has it been used to such effect as in The Killer.

Woo's familiar themes of brotherhood, betrayal and loyalty also reach their cinematic peak in this movie. The viewer not only wants to see the next pyrotechnic action scene, but is actually concerned with the lives of the characters, an element that is almost always lacking in typical Hollywood fare.

Finally, the gun-battle scenes, when they come, are simply the most spectacular, mind-blowingly violent, yet strangely beautiful, action scenes ever imagined or filmed. And last but not least, is the unbelievably powerful screen presence of Chow Yun-Fat, as always cool incarnate. His effortless lead and the tension created by his playing off of co-star Danny Lee make The Killer as close as I have yet seen to the perfect action movie. I recommend it to any hard-core action fan and also suggest Hard-Boiled, though Woo's American efforts thus far have not been up to his Hong Kong works.

Rating: 10

John Woo's "The Killer" shows a master at the height of his powers. Woo, today working in the United States, gained fame in Hong Kong through the two "Better Tomorrow" films. He became popular and used his success to go to greater things. In fact, much of Woo's HK work is similar, including the work he did in the early 90's like "Bullet in the Head" and "Hard Boiled". But "The Killer" shows John Woo as a perfectionist, the top director of action films who can perfectly blend in over-the-top violence with emotional drama.

"The Killer" follows John (Jeff in other versions of the film), who's played to utter perfection by Chow Yun Fat. John is a hit-man planning retirement. On one job, however, he accidentally shoots a singer (Jenny) near her eyes. She survives, but her vision is blurry. John saves her from a gang of rapist thieves, and the two ultimately fall in love with each other, despite Jenny never having seen John's face. On John's case, however, is Inspector Li, hard at work, who is intent on always getting his man. Much of the movie involves John and the results of his final job which ultimately pits him up against the entire mob, who want him dead for overexposing his identity. And the rest of the film follows John catering to Jenny's needs and helping her at every moment, all the while evading Li, who's getting closer and closer to stopping him.

To make the movie the memorable film that it is, Woo perfectly orchestrates some of the best shoot-outs ever seen on film. Much of what Woo did here, he was never able to follow up. "Hard Boiled" was interesting, but its final shoot-out, over 20 minutes in length, just couldn't keep up. It got boring by the end. What Woo does in "The Killer" is give you a sample of his powers and then leave you begging for more. And that what you'll be literally doing: begging for just a glimpse of the next dude victim to Fat's two beautiful handguns.

It's only sad to see that, not so much Woo doesn't do these films anymore, but that Woo rarely does good films now.(Period) He's too busy, working on ego with top stars and killer budgets. His two films that came as far as making an impact with me from his U.S. catalog will probably include "Broken Arrow" and "Face/Off", both primarily due to just how much I like Travolta (though the former was also an early film of mine that I really remember liking, since it was different from all the Disney and kid stuff I was used to). But Woo, intent on fulfilling his dreams of making a musical and captivating audiences with his powerful style, can just show the people a screening of this film. It's quoted as being "Violence as poetry", and that's exactly what it is. With the beautiful music adding feeling and depth to the characters and the great writing and direction, this is easily Woo's tour-de-force.

9.5/10 (****/****)

Some films focus on action to draw their thrills, others put the emphasis on drama and character interaction to draw theirs; The Killer manages to do both, seemingly effortlessly. You would think that in a pure action movie, the drama would come off as a little forced and out of place, but in The Killer it doesn't; John Woo fuses the two together magnificently.

The story of the movie is most certainly secondary to the amazing visuals and the adrenaline fueled shootouts, which is, of course, no bad thing. The movie, however does have a plot which strings the gunfights together, and it follows the story of Jeffrey, an assassin that, while on a job, accidentally blinds a young singer, Jennie. However, this assassin is different from most assassins in that he has a heart; and he decides to fix his mistake by doing one last job in order to earn the money needed for a cornea transplant. However, things are never that easy as after his last job, his employer refuses to pay and, because he revealed his identity on the job, he also has a cop, Inspector Li, on his tail who is played by Danny Lee.

The character of Jeffrey is brought to the screen by Chow Jun Fat, a man that has a great screen presence. Fat portrays his character with great emotion, which makes his character different to the usual, cold image that is normally upheld when we think of a assassin. This is epitomized by one point in the movie in which the policeman tells Fat that he is not the usual assassin, and he isn't. The other central character in the movie that of Inspector Li is also portrayed by a good actor in Danny Lee. The two create a good chemistry on screen as we see their developing relationship, which is born as a result of a mutual admiration and the men's respective professions, which has similarities which are touched upon in the movie, despite them being on opposite ends of the law

Throughout the film, John Woo is able to deliver incredibly crisp visuals that are made more beautiful by his use of music and bright colours. This gives the movie a very vibrant feel, and that's a feel that works incredibly with John Woo's brilliant action sequences. John Woo indulges in all kinds of trickery with the camera and the editing suite; slow motion, fast editing and music all feature greatly in this movie, and unlike a lot of movies that experiment with such things; it works every time here. Nobody can deny the thrills and excitement that ensue where Woo fast edits, or the way the music blends with the slow motion to create a haunting atmosphere to the overly action filled gun sequences. John Woo is a master behind the camera, and it is clearly shown in this film. There is also an amount of strange humour in the film, shown best by the standoff between the assassin and the police while the doctor's work to save a young girl that has been injured in one of the earlier gun battles. This sense of humour would later be instilled in other Woo films such as Hard-Boiled (with it's hospital ending)

After Woo has taken us on an adrenaline fueled action roller coaster ride, he obviously knew it was going to take something special to end the movie effectively, and the movie certainly does end effectively. The last gunfight is, simply, perfect. The action is choreographed to perfection and not a single move is out of place; it's also very thrilling and will be sure to get anyone's heart pumping. This end action sequence has never been topped in the 15 years since The Killer was released, and it is unlikely to ever be bettered. Woo also manages to end on a poetic note that the film has been building up to throughout. In an action movie you don't expect a tear-inducing finale, but here John Woo delivers one, and best of all; it works.

Overall, if action is your thing, then The Killer is your movie. The perfect blend of adrenaline and emotion is given to the audience in this film and with it John Woo has proved that action is more than just gunfights and cool characters; this film is art.