Hitman, o Rei dos Assassinos

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

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

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.

The Contract Killer is one of Jet Li's best films. Besides the cool action sequences, the movie has effective humor (courtesy of Eric Tsang), and well... more action sequences. Not to mention the movie has one of the most rubbish scripts ever in the history of Kung-Fu/Action cinema. The script is so bad, the sub-villain is a guy with lasers on the tip of his shoes. And the villain eats his diseased grandfather's ashes. Yeah.

Anyways, long story short, Jet and Eric must find the killer of old mafioso don Tsukamoto, in order to receive a 100 million dollar reward. Everything else is action and buddy comedy.

It is important to recognize the talent and agility Jet demonstrates in his fighting scenes. Although they are far from being his best, the work he puts in here is astounding; heavily inspired by most of Jackie Chan's work as a matter of fact. Jet isn't a killing machine here, or a spiritual white robbed man with a bad haircut. He is but a skillful martial artist that doesn't want to hurt anyone badly, therefore, he resorts to use his surroundings most of the time. Like Jackie in most of his films.

It is also important to recognize Eric Tsang. The man is very good in this one; funny, enjoyable and overacted (but in a tasteless way of course). I also liked the musical score and requisite Hip Hop soundtrack.

Statement: You are not a Jet Li purist if you haven't seen Contract Killer. I also highly recommended this to anyone that wants to laugh and see some large amounts of ass kicking at the same time.

5.3/10

This is a good movie that may have never made it to the American market if not for the success of Jet Li in the U.S. Eric Tsang is a very successful actor in the Hong Kong market, but has virtually no following here -- which is too bad. He may have even been listed as the star of the movie in the original Chinese version.

Eric is a Chinese blend of Danny DeVito and Joe Pesci. He can portray the wormy character of DeVito in the Romancing the Stone/Jewel of the Nile movies. And he also does a great blending of the Home Alone/Lethal Weapon Joe Pesci character. People should rent this movie to see him render his role.

As for the movie, itself, this is a little different than most Jet Li fare -- maybe because he is not the clear star. There is a little less of the martial artist and a little more of the actor. It is a pleasant change.