Customer Reviews

Fulltime Killer

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I saw this movie last night at the San Francisco International Film Festival. It stars Japanese heartthrob Takashi Sorimachi as O, the best assassin in Asia, and Hong Kong heartthrob Andy Lau as Tok, an up-and-coming assassin who wants to be known as the best and thus challenges O. I went into this movie not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised, especially by the last third of the movie as it showed unexpected depths and twists.

Not to say this movie is without flaws -- there's lots of typical extraneous violence, many hokey lines, and unbelievable scenes. However, the movie's switching between Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, and English (depending on the native language of the speaker) is a bit of a surprise and gives the movie a bit more of a cosmopolitan, realistic feel than most HK action flicks (don't worry, it's subtitled in Chinese and English). But the action is well-paced, with amusing references to the first-person shoot-em-up video games like "Doom" and "Halo" that it sometimes resembles, and interesting camera angles and editing. Sorimachi delivers a sexy performance as the efficient but terse O, and Lau walks a psychotic edge as the flamboyant Tok with a love for movies.

"Fulltime Killer" isn't for everyone, but if you enjoy Hong Kong action films or are a fan of one of the stars, or like action films with a bit of a twist and aren't expecting "War and Peace", then check this one out.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Thanks to the thrill of Hong Kong cinema, action movies still find a home outside of most US production companies, and that fact has rarely been so admirably demonstrated as it is here with FULL TIME KILLER.

Tok and O are both hitmen, struggling to be the best at their game. However, rather than leaving their characters flat and two-dimensional at that, the skilled craftsmen are provided interesting and understandable backstories that (thankfully) aren't related to harsh lessons learned in war or going berserk at the violent death of a lifelong friend. The motivations behind these two are possibly entirely real situations, and that makes their characters -- their similarities and their differences -- far more interesting than most flicks exploring the secret life of assassins.

However, the story doesn't stop there: the killers are provided with dubious adversaries, facing doublecrosses by their employers who inevitably hope to pit these hardened men against one another. That, and a pair of police detectives intent upon bringing everyone involved to justice make this one inventive flick with heart as well as mind.

The film is staged with wonderful set sequences, many of them reminiscent of the films of John Woo, and the action -- once it cranks up a notch -- is choreographed spectacularly. Also, the film borrows heavily from its American counterparts, lifting ideas and influences of some lesser genre hits and incorporating them into the lives of the two leads.

Certainly, Hong Kong cinema is not for everyone. Often times, the action can stretch the bounds of believability, making modern cities seem more like one-horse towns in the Old West, guns that never need reloading. Dismissing these inaccuracies is easy, if you have an intelligent script to keep your interest ... and FULL TIME KILLER doesn't disappoint.

If anything, one could fault KILLER for developing too much backstory for the hitmen and the girl that inadvertantly binds them together on their quest to become the best. Too many layers of complexity can detract from the visuals, but, if you're watching closely (no pun intended), you'll be able to guess the outcome of this smart thriller with a kind of childish glee.

Lock and load.

Well, it had to happen sooner or later: a disappointing Johnnie To film, albeit one co-directed by Ka-Fei Wai. It's not so much that the film is exactly bad, more that it's so average when it could and should have been much better. A riff on Assassins, with reckless hitman Andy Lau trying to eliminate Takashi Sorimachi and take his crown, there are plenty of good ideas and clever plot twists and, while utterly unbelievable, Lau's character never becomes as much of a clown as Antonio Banderas in Richard Donner's film. But there's a clumsiness, not just to the film's construction but also its execution, as if it were made by less experienced hands. One major problem is the multilingual treatment: the Cantonese and Japanese dialog is fine, but huge chunks of the film are played in English, and neither Lau nor Simon Yam are particularly fluent in it, rendering much of their dialog painfully awkward (to be fair, Yam comes off far worse). The end, where everybody gets what they want, feels right, but there's a curious sense of underachieving throughout the film: the constant question isn't "What'll happen next?" but "Why isn't this as good as it should be?" One for the money, I suspect.

This was a great movie. It took a little "getting used to" with the subtitles, but after a while the movie just took off. While I am certain that words are important, what these characters tell you in body language and action is just as impressive. And the scenery is to die for. I am so happy I purchased this DVD. The picture is crystal clear, the images are great and filled with clear color, no over saturation. The sound is also great. You get some previews and trailers with the DVD and some special features. A great DVD to add to my collection.

First, let me address two of the negative views about this film expressed by others. The variation in language is not a mishap. There is no "chinese" language. What people are refering to when they say "chinese" is generally mandarin, which is China's official language. However, very few people in Hong Kong choose to speak mandarin, even if they are able. Cantonese is the langauge of choice (sounds sing-songy...the stereotypical chinese language...ex. "Yong tau, ming bei." and the sort. Anyone who has ever spent time in China is aware that many languages are spoken in all cities. Second, the plot in this movie is not meant to be easily followed or the intricacies uncovered. The intent is obviously to show the plot's complexity by making it complex. A concept lost on those who are not in the businesses of film or theater. I feel that Fulltime Killer is not a movie for everyone. If you are not the type to read subtitles then DO NOT RENT OR BUY. However, if you would like to be exposed to a different style of film than we Americans are used to then give it a go. I mean, people trashed movies like Snatch, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, and mean Machine initially, due to not understanding the brilliance of English cinema. Now these are some of the top selling films in this country. Don't let the nay-sayers get the better of you...give this film a shot.

Many reviewers have complained about the variety of asian languages presented in this film. I say, "get over it." Don't be so ethnocentric as to think that every movie should be made in the language that you personally speak. If you only watch a movie, or judge one, by the language it is filmed in than you will definitely limit your choices of movies.

Secondly, this movie has its flaws, but it is a great representative of the whole Hong Kong guns a blazing genre. Great story telling, entertainment, and conveyance of what honor can really mean.If you are a fan of John Woo's Hard Boiled for example, you should definitely give this movie a shot.

Thirdly, I gave this movie a 5 star rating. I would have probably given it a 4 star rating but I saw some 2 star ratings by other reviewers and wanted to balance things out to where it should really be.

absolutely one of my all-time favorite movies. it's enough action and surprises to satisfy the action fiends, yet enough drama and love to make a respectable, creative picture. Sometimes you don't know who to root for, because these characters have so much depth, and it doesn't seem to have a wrong or right. i recommend this to anyone who loves action, but needs more than explosions and gunshots.

Now this flick gets started off with a serious bang but never really capitalizes on it.

The story is about 2 assassins and 1 girl who we learn more about the whole movie. Just like going about their assassinations in totally diffrerent ways, they also go after the girl in very diffrerent ways. Andy Lau plays the reckless one while Sorimachi gets the job done cleany every time. When I say they go about getting the girls in diffrerent ways, this part could not be more extreme. Lau's presentation of himself was totally unbelievable but it did actually fit his character quite nicely.

The constant English dialogue from Simon Yam and many others was very distracting. Yam's English is horrible and they also spoke a lot of Japanese which didn't hurt the film.

The end I thought was very poorly done though it does have one of Johnny To's exressions of art in the final shoot-out. To doesn't completely fail, but I still found even a movie like A Hero Never Dies more enjoyable. Any Lau has a great line that sums it up the best-"even a crappy movie can have a great trailer".

The extras on the DVD include a 25 minute making of that was made before the movie was released and a 23 minute behind the scenes showing you how they shot the scene.

I really liked this film but I also see the flaws in it more and more every time I see it. The film revolves around two assassins and both have a little bit more in common than they think they do. They both are actually quite sloppy assassins when you think about it, they kill in broad daylight with there face exposed to the world. The main character named O is the best assassin in Asia but he now has a new rival named Tok that not only wants the amount of money O gets for his jobs but also his rank as top assassin.

Tok sends O challenges by showing up at his Job's but of course O keeps trying to figure out how Tok knows his every move. After a while when everything comes together you pretty much figure out that Tok is a little smarter than O just for the fact that for most of the film he had the upper hand. Tok is literally a psycho, he has no problem telling people what he really does and is always comparing the moments of his life to assassin films he's seen.

The film has a great ability to keep the viewers attention because it has great gunplay scenes and the two leading actors are ok but I feel Andy Lau outshines everyone. There are a few problems with this film one being that the subtitles are awful at times, they're white and the films picture is bright enough so the words run in with the picture and you miss what is being said. If that wasn't bad enough everyone in the film switches languages every few scenes, first they're speaking bad English then it's something else. Full time Killer is not based on one culture and takes place everywhere in Asia, some of the characters are said to be Chinese, some Japanese and some are others.

I don't know if Takashi Sorimachi (O) plays his character with little feeling or if he just played the part that way because he is supposed to be on top but only shows that when it comes to executing a job. He seems to have a hard time keeping his life together as you will see as the film goes on. It could be the fact that every time I get a chance to see Full Time Killer it's in the wee hours of the morning or because I just love films about assassins like Tok. I explained many flaws in the film in this review but still this film is entertaining and you can't stop watching it until you know the truth about everything. I truly believe that Andy Lau, his character, and the cool action scenes hold this film together. His mind frame reminds you of Gary Oldman in the professional but a little happier and he compares the films total situation to the 1995 film Assassins. In the end this movie is worth watching at least the first time it will impress you and give a dull night an exciting mood.

In some ways, "Fulltime Killer" is a bit of a mishmash, but while it may not be perfect cinema, it's certainly a delightful action genre. Director Johnny To who did "The Mission" and recently the romantic "Xiang Zuo Zuo, Xiang You Zou," has sometimes been compared as the Hong Kong Antonioni with a brooding sense of gloom that pervades his action efforts. This comes though as Takashi Sorimachi as O is a very disciplined assassin who lays low and takes a careful appraoch. He rents a flat & then rents another space in another building across the way to observe by telescope what happens in his apartment. His housekeeper is killed and sends him into an emotional tailspin since he'd developed an attachment for her. Kelly Lin as Chin becomes the part-time housekeeper and is observed from afar. Andy Lau is delightful as the flashy killer eager to establish his reputation and out-do his rival O. He parades around in a Bill Clinton mask and injects a mob boss with a lethal syringe. Simon Yam as Inspector Lee does a great job, although his character seems queer when he resigns to write a book. I found elements of Hitchcock as well as O carefully observes his flat by telescope. The firework filled big bang of an ending in the warehouse worked for me and was Matrix-like in its cinematic assault. While not perfect, this is an excellent piece by this Hong Kong director with blockbuster performances by its stars. Enjoy!