Profissionais do Crime

This is one of the better Hong-Kong bullet fest to be released in a while.

The movie sets are good, the action fast, the gritty cold violence reasonably to excellently done. All the actors are good with kudo's going to Andy Lau for stealing many of the scenes.

The basic story is about a flamboyant over the top new assassin hoping to take over number 1 spot held by a disciplined introspective killer.

There are a couple of important sub plots involving a women and of course the cop trying to chase them both down.

This movie is all about set action pieces and how well they can be executed...that that is pretty darn well.

A fun movie with a charismatic cast and lots of blood and bullets.

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.

There's a plot in there somewhere about two assassins and a girl they both have feelings for. One of them wants to take the number one assassin title from the other. But really this film is just a exercise in style over substance. The thing is the style IS great and it's very fun to watch. Well at least it attempts to get serious. A few nice set-pieces though.

My Grade: C+

DVD Extras: 25 minute Making of; 23 minute behind the Scenes; Bios for Andy Lau, Takashi Sorimachi, and Johnnie To; Theatrical Trailer; and Trailers for "The Believer", "the Last Minute" and "Scratch"

Fulltime Killer is a movie about assassins; one's trying to live in seclusion, the other is trying to showboat his way to top to become the #1 Assassin. Andy Lau does a great job as Tok, he has a natual arrogant look to him that really filled out the character. Tok is an up and coming assassin who takes any job he can find, difficult or not, and always delivers, throwing in extra style points to make his work unique.O, or Ono; is the current top assassin. He is played by Japanese actor Takashi Sorimachi, another good choice in casting. His methods are less flashy than Tok's but he is effiecient and very professional about his work. Over the course of the movie, a woman gets involved, as does Interpol, as news of a flashy killer quickly spreads across the surrounding area. The plot obviously ends up pitting the two assassins against each other(like you didn't know)and well, I guess you're going to have to watch it to see who becomes the #1 Fulltime Killer. But before I end this may I at least comment on the dialogue in the movie. I'm no expert in foreign languages but it seemed like there were 4 different languages spoken throughout the course of the movie, Korean, Japanese, Chinese(some form) and English. Like I said, I'm no expert so if they only spoke Japanese and English I wouldn't be surprised. But the dialogue between characters was well crafted, I enjoyed how the characters spoke their native language, or if they didn't, another character would inquire why they didn't. The action scenes were good, not too much physical action, but if you like guns, then this is right up your alley. Finally, I'd like to point out that this movie doesn't center around one assassin, it switches back and forth, and you really will find yourself rooting for one or the other by the end of the film. I rooted for O, did he win? Watch the movie.

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.