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Hitman

Hitman

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A SLOW STARTER, BUT WELL ABOVE AVERAGE
Review: In "The Hit Man," Jet Li plays a would be assasin who attaches himself to a moderately successful con-man (Eric Tsang) who reluctantly takes the role as Jet Li's manager. Subsequently, in a case of mistaken identity, Tsang is accused of having initiated the assasination of a corrupt Japanese businessman, whose grandson, following his grandfathers will, issues a $100,000,000.00 bounty for whoever kills the assasin of Old Grandad. Li comes to the aid of his mentor helping him outwit and survive the revenge of the Japanese businessmans grandson, the various assasins seeking the reward, and avoiding arrest from the cop ( the very versatile Simon Yam) who's investigating the murder of the Japanese and who's a lot more than he seems. While the first half of this film is a bit of a snoozer, the second half makes up for it, with 3 very good and lengthy action sequences, culminating in a final combat between Li and the Japaneses' grandson. Simon Yam gives one of his rare demonstrations of his martial arts abilities, making a nice excution of what in Judo is called kani-basami (I don't know what they call it in Cantonese) on the Japanese villian and Jet Li, as always, puts on a magnificent wire-free display of his fluid kung fu. While not Jet Li's best, it's still well worth the money, whether as a rental or a purchase. I should mention, however, the version I saw was not the new Disney release, but the original Hong Kong release which I'd bet is probably a lot better.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The King of Killer Kung Fu
Review: In Jet Li's final Hong Kong film before he starred in "Lethal Weapon 4", he plays Fu, a former soldier and martial arts expert living in Hong Kong with four roommates while trying to support his mother. To be sure, he's NOT dirt poor, but he's still can't afford to let money fall out of his pocket and roll into oncoming traffic.

Fu knows there's big money in bounty hunting, and he get's his shot at it when a Japanese buissiness man/crime boss is executed by the legendary "King of Killers", a self-employed assassin who murders only rich bad guys. The dead guy knew he had a lot of foes on both sides of the law, and set up a "revenge fund" of a whoppin' $100 million to strike back from the grave.

The murder victim's grandson, Eiji Tsukumoto, just covets the massive reward, but Fu needs some dough as well, and partners up with an "agent" named Norman Lu (Eric Tsang), to find the King of Killers.

Easily one of the best of Jet Li's later Hong Kong flicks, CONTRACT KILLER (called HITMAN in Hong Kong) provides some of the best non-wire-fu martial arts scenes I've seen, particular the scenes where Jet Li is paired with a chopsocky adversary with rings and shoes that emit flashy lights to confuse his opponents. Now There's something you don't see everyday.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The King of Killer Kung Fu
Review: In Jet Li's final Hong Kong film before he starred in "Lethal Weapon 4", he plays Fu, a former soldier and martial arts expert living in Hong Kong with four roommates while trying to support his mother. To be sure, he's NOT dirt poor, but he's still can't afford to let money fall out of his pocket and roll into oncoming traffic.

Fu knows there's big money in bounty hunting, and he get's his shot at it when a Japanese buissiness man/crime boss is executed by the legendary "King of Killers", a self-employed assassin who murders only rich bad guys. The dead guy knew he had a lot of foes on both sides of the law, and set up a "revenge fund" of a whoppin' $100 million to strike back from the grave.

The murder victim's grandson, Eiji Tsukumoto, just covets the massive reward, but Fu needs some dough as well, and partners up with an "agent" named Norman Lu (Eric Tsang), to find the King of Killers.

Easily one of the best of Jet Li's later Hong Kong flicks, CONTRACT KILLER (called HITMAN in Hong Kong) provides some of the best non-wire-fu martial arts scenes I've seen, particular the scenes where Jet Li is paired with a chopsocky adversary with rings and shoes that emit flashy lights to confuse his opponents. Now There's something you don't see everyday.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: One of JL's better movies
Review: It is difficult to come up with something new to say about this movie, all the good stuff has been said by previous reviewers. I watched this movie after watching Bodyguard from Beijing and Black Mask, so this movie ranks high in my opinion. I think this is one of JL's better movies (compared to the other two). It is funny, and the plot is pretty consistent. The only problem I had was about The Killing Angel character; he did not seem as tough as he should have. In other words, this is a must for JL fans, and a must if you are interested in watching such types of movies.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A big load of bad
Review: It's been a long time since I've watched a good chop-sokky flick, so last night I rented Jet Li's Contract Killer. Apparently, it was his last Hong Kong movie. Until now, I thought Jet Li's Hong Kong films are vastly superior to his North American ones.

My opinion has been altered a bit.

In general, his Hong Kong flicks are better. Contract Killer, however, is a big load of bad. I will give the benefit of the doubt, though. I watched a dubbed version (why are dubbed movies always so incredibly awful?), so perhaps part of the problem was the translation. There were many places in the film where character reactions and plot points really made no sense at all. This could have been because of horrific dubbing and translation. I'm sure it's much more watchable in Cantonese.

Nonetheless, even barring the translation barrier, this film had several strikes against it. First of all, what was with the camera work? One of the cameras had a badly-scuffed lens, and black scratch marks distracted me from quite a few scenes. Also, the big fight in the elevator shaft was so dark that I really didn't have a clue what was going on. I had no idea who was hitting who, or how.

Next, the story (as in most martial arts flicks) was pretty silly. This one seemed to be an Asian knock-off of The Boondock Saints, right down to the name of the mysterious vigilante (The King of Killers) and his over-the-top appearance during a hit (like in The Boondock Saints, he appeared from the ceiling hanging by his feet from a rope with guns blazing).

Fu's (Jet Li's character) motivations seemed blatantly artificial, as well. He's a poor ex-soldier from China who has promised to buy his mother a big mansion. He decides to come to Hong Kong to become a hitman, yet his people-loving ways mean he doesn't want to hurt anyone.

As a minor point, yet one which did distract me many times throughout the film, Jet Li has an AWFUL case of acne. In most movies, the makeup people will do a half-way decent job of covering up blemishes, but it looks like no one bothered even trying for this movie. Jet Li has an amazing crop of blackheads and whiteheads. His face looks like a horrible pizza. Poor guy. And poor me, when I keep thinking, "Pop it, already!" during closeups of the pus-filled bumps on his neck and cheeks. Eeeurgh.

On the plus side, the fight scenes that were visible (like the climactic end scene) are solid. I was pleased to see a dearth of wire tricks. I really prefer movies with unadulterated martial arts. It really showcases the actors' abilities.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A big load of bad
Review: It's been a long time since I've watched a good chop-sokky flick, so last night I rented Jet Li's Contract Killer. Apparently, it was his last Hong Kong movie. Until now, I thought Jet Li's Hong Kong films are vastly superior to his North American ones.

My opinion has been altered a bit.

In general, his Hong Kong flicks are better. Contract Killer, however, is a big load of bad. I will give the benefit of the doubt, though. I watched a dubbed version (why are dubbed movies always so incredibly awful?), so perhaps part of the problem was the translation. There were many places in the film where character reactions and plot points really made no sense at all. This could have been because of horrific dubbing and translation. I'm sure it's much more watchable in Cantonese.

Nonetheless, even barring the translation barrier, this film had several strikes against it. First of all, what was with the camera work? One of the cameras had a badly-scuffed lens, and black scratch marks distracted me from quite a few scenes. Also, the big fight in the elevator shaft was so dark that I really didn't have a clue what was going on. I had no idea who was hitting who, or how.

Next, the story (as in most martial arts flicks) was pretty silly. This one seemed to be an Asian knock-off of The Boondock Saints, right down to the name of the mysterious vigilante (The King of Killers) and his over-the-top appearance during a hit (like in The Boondock Saints, he appeared from the ceiling hanging by his feet from a rope with guns blazing).

Fu's (Jet Li's character) motivations seemed blatantly artificial, as well. He's a poor ex-soldier from China who has promised to buy his mother a big mansion. He decides to come to Hong Kong to become a hitman, yet his people-loving ways mean he doesn't want to hurt anyone.

As a minor point, yet one which did distract me many times throughout the film, Jet Li has an AWFUL case of acne. In most movies, the makeup people will do a half-way decent job of covering up blemishes, but it looks like no one bothered even trying for this movie. Jet Li has an amazing crop of blackheads and whiteheads. His face looks like a horrible pizza. Poor guy. And poor me, when I keep thinking, "Pop it, already!" during closeups of the pus-filled bumps on his neck and cheeks. Eeeurgh.

On the plus side, the fight scenes that were visible (like the climactic end scene) are solid. I was pleased to see a dearth of wire tricks. I really prefer movies with unadulterated martial arts. It really showcases the actors' abilities.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Jet, what were you doing in this?
Review: Jet Li as a contrac killer? Come on! The reason why this movie isn't that famous is because it pretty much sucks. It's just a shootem up bang bang type of movie. No realy kung fu here.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Jet Li is the King of Killers!
Review: Jet Li stars as a man that turns to the profession of hitman to earn money for his Mom back in mainland China. He has a conscience though, and can only kill those that deserve it. An agent for hitmen (do these guys even exist?) helps Li get the gigs he needs to be a successful hitman. The plot of this one is certainly strange, and Li's voice changes a few times throughout the film due to the director changing the voice actors around. The quality of video used to film this one got poorer after awhile as well - I think the budget was running thin, and the director was scrambling to finish it up. All in all this film offers what Li's fans want...great fight scenes. There's sword fighting and gunplay - it's all here! If you enjoyed High Risk and Bodyguard from Beijing, be sure to give Hitman a chance.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: An excellent off-center action comedy
Review: Neat action scenes, nice interplay between the characters and actors, and some excellent comedic touches add up to a movie well-worth getting.

Jet Li is one of the most charismatic Chinese action stars and he is put to good use in this film as a would-be assassin with a kind heart. The supporting cast is also excellent.

One weak spot in the film is the plotting. While some of the film's plot twists are well done, others seem arbitrary and out of left field. On the other hand, there was at least one predictable twist that they stayed away from (Li's character was handled differently than one might have expected from the first act).If you liked 'Romeo is Dying,' you will almost certainly enjoy this film as well.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: More funny than action...but in a good way
Review: Not sure if someone decided Jet Li needed to try to be more like Jackie Chan, but that's what this film felt like. Wonderful chemistry between Jet and his sidekick....some truly funny moments. I expected a lot more action, but got a lot more laughs. Not a bad rental. ....


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