The Killer

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.

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

Chow Yun Fat and John Woo strike again. The Killer is not your run of the mill action flick. It features characters you care about, jaw-dropping action sequences, and , best of all, Chow Yun Fat. He's always supercool. Chow and co-star Danny Lee play very similar characters but are on opposite sides of the law. It makes the film work very well. The heroes can relate to one another because they have both injured the innocent while doing their jobs. Another great actor in the film is Kong Chu in the role of Sydney, the one handed hitman. Being in the middle of the fray, he makes for an interesting character. There is a great scene involving Sydney's betrayal. Chow is so amazing with his emotions in this scene. He's not just an international action superstar, he's an underrated and incredible actor as well. That's what makes The Killer more than just another action movie. Woo's direction always helps too. The Killer boasts one of the best and most epic shootouts in film history. Woo's older films are as stylistic as they get, I mean stylistic as hell. Chow Yun Fat and John Woo make an incredible duo. Nicholas Cage is no replacement, it's high time they work together again.

Of all John Woo's bullet-ridden action movies, this is his greatest. You see many of Mr. Woo's "trademarks" (flying doves, reflections in mirrors, very strong Catholic symbolism) that appear in his inferior American directed films (save Face Off) first in this Hong Kong cinema classic. Sure the violence is over the top, the plot only adequate, the sentimentalism a little thick. The actions scenes are filmed with such, I dare say beauty, that no Hollywood 'by the numbers' action film can possibly compete. While this film is not for the squeamish or those offended by excessive and rather graphic violence, if you are in any way a fan of action films - you mush see this movie (and many other John Woo directed films during his Hong Kong days, i.e. Hardboiled, A Better Tomorrow, etc).

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 (****/****)