Customer Reviews

The Big Hit

5 star:		(50)
4 star:		(31)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

I've trashed more than my fair share of big, brainless action flicks for being stupid, unbelievable, and nasty. But for some reason, either by merit of the film itself or some fluke in my taste, I like THE BIG HIT. If the former is true, here is why.

There are those of us who peruse the direct-to-video bins of action and horror movies in a desparate search of fun. THE BIG HIT, although released theatrically, is everything that you desire while looking at direct-to-video crap, but never get, and its infinitly better.

Make no mistakes: this movie is vulgar, crass, and shameless. It even crossed my line with the vomiting scene, but I managed. The film finds hit man Melvin Smiley set up to take the fall for a major screw-up by his hipster co-workers whilst dealing with being a pushover to his fiancee and girlfriend.

Maybe the fact that this film has such a plot, a plot that is relevant to the action and interesting is what makes it exciting. The characters are stimulating and provided vibrant dialogue. Through the pretty routine directing, it's Ben Ramseys script that makes the thing so fun. The action sequences are pretty by the numbers, as I've mentioned, but there are moments or rhythm and sublime carnage beneath the rest of it.

The film has a hard-hitting and pulsating score by Graeme Revell, which is also notable in its genre for its themes and concentration on doing more than making noise.

Be warned: those who do not tolerate profanity, violence, and general disregard for morals (these are hit men, after all) should not view. If you do not fall into that category, and like a bit of ultra-violence brimming with wit and style, there is a very good chance you will like this movie, and almost NO chance that you will regret seeing it.

Or like I said, it might have just been a fluke in my tastes...

I remember first seeing the previews for The Big Hit and thinking to myself, "this is going to be one terrible film." Then I actually rented it, and found myself enjoying the movie immensely. Oh, it's one silly action film, but it's fun usually for all the right reasons, so that's why I'm recommending it. And this says a lot, believe me, because I find 3/4's of the movie's cast utterly revolting (Antonio Sabato, Jr., Christina Applegate, Bokeem Woodbine, Lela Rochon, and Elliot Gould all in the same movie, and I still somehow enjoyed it).

Mark Wahlberg stars as Melvin Smiley, a hitman with a heart of gold, sort of. Outside of his dubious career, he's a relatively nice guy with an airhead fiancee (Applegate). Anyway, his hitman buddies, specifically Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), devise a plan to kidnap Keiko Nishi (China Chow), the daughter of a super-rich Japanese businessman, not knowing the man has just went bankrupt (shown in a hilarious scene). Anyway, they have to store Keiko at Melvin's house, and he's forgotten that his fiancee and her parents are visiting for the weekend. To make matters worse, Keiko is the goddaughter of the hitmen's boss, Paris (Avery Brooks), who's looking to crack down on the guys who kidnapped her.

The Big Hit desires to work as an action and comedy, and succeeds quite well at both. The shootouts are pure Hong Kong-style (no surprise, it's directed by Kirk Wong), outrageous but cool to watch. The fight scenes are kinetic and well-choreographed, with the performers displaying some nice, agile moves without really going into all-out martial arts (by this, I'm referring to the final fight in the video store). None of the action is superspectacular or completely memorable, but it's all exciting and lots of fun, which is what it should be.

Director Kirk Wong also shows a capbable hand at humor. For once, the majority of the film's jokes actually work. Even a long-running gag involving Melvin and his overdue rental of King Kong Lives pays off in the end. A lot of people are going to find this humor stupid, but for me, it was stupid and funny. Some of these jokes probably wouldn't naturally be funny, but the cast (particularly Lou Diamond Phillips) pulls them off with a great sense of comic timing. Hell, I even laughed during that obvious "tracebuster" joke.

As I said before, most of the cast members are those I generally try to avoid when I watch movies and they're terrible here, but they're offset by the film's leads, thankfully. Mark Wahlberg is not a great actor by any stretch of the imagination, but he's likeable and perfect for this part. The lovely China Chow is a spirited foil for Wahlberg, she's smart, funny, and sassy, and also the film's most genuinely likeable character. Naturally, the film progresses by developing some romantic chemistry between her and Wahlberg, and to my surprise, those scenes actually work.

Stealing virtually the whole film is Lou Diamond Phillips (who I've always liked), who's hilarious as the two-timing hitman Cisco. Off the top of my head, I believe this is his only comic performance to date, and he's so good at it, I wish he'd delve into the genre more often. The always solid Avery Brooks has a few throwaway scenes, but it's always nice to see him in a role outside of Deep Space Nine. All in all, The Big Hit was a good time, never truly excellent as an action/comedy (it needs more even plotting and less superfluous characters) but just enjoyable enough, and that was good enough for me.

I love this movie! Its definitely one of my favorites, and I have the tendency to watch it twice in a row! Mark Wahlberg is such a hot, sweet lil badboy and with that innocent soft voice and smile he always gives me the tingles. Love the action scenes and the sense of humor is so cheesy its just hilarious. The romantic scenes with Mark and his many girls keep me coming back for more and more. For the girls, there is a great locker room scene with the guys' naked butts---yummy!

I wasn't going to add a review to this site, but after seeing all the negative reviews I had to. This is one of my favourite films, because it's enjoyable. Sure, there are funnier movies, movies with more action, better acting, a better plot and all the other things that people like. But this film is good at what it does, and that is bringing everything together. Rather than being the best film at one of these categories, it is good at all of them. And it's FUN!! Lou Diamond Phillips kicks arse in this movie... and there are some killer lines in there too ("Bust some caps?!? Give this man a gold star!!"). The soundtrack works well, the camera work is top notch, and all around this is very well produced. It seems there are a lot of people out there that think a film can only be good if it has a message, or Harrison Ford. Well here's an idea- get out there and make a movie yourself... let's see what kind of message you can offer the world. In the meantime, respect this film for what it is- extreme entertainment. And for that guy who said that all the people that hate this film are from Australia, I'm an Aussie.

This is again one of those movies you must not take too seriously. If you do, you will be spending that 100 or so minutes sitting and wondering why are you watching this...

Plot in a sentence: four contract killers go moonlightning and accidentally kidnap their boss' god-daughter and mayhem follows...

Don't miss this gem! There are so many in-movie jokes, parodical remarks, sexy booty and great-off-the-wall action you have to see it twice to catch them all...

Favourite line: "You can't handle the truth!" (not a mistake!)

this movie is pretty cool! it's got action, comedy and a really cool up-and-coming star. mark walberg plays a nice guy who is caught up between to golddigging women and a stressful job as a hit-man. when the team of hit-men that mark walberg is in dicides to kidnapp their bosses daughter (played by ultra cute China Chow) everything goes crazy!!

The movie itself is alright, the comedy and action make a good 50/50 mix, and the plot is easy to follow. the extras on thid disc enclude, a so-so commentary, some ok deleted seens, and some other extras. if you rent it and watch it and like it, you should buy it, but otherwise, wait for this one to go on sale.

This movie was a real blast, both with the action and more so with the sometimes childish but often funny spoof element! Mark Wahlberg plays Mervin Smiley, a sexually insecure potential hitman who works for godfather Avery Brooks(Sisco from Deep Space Nine to you Trekkies!), along with assorted colleagues. When Smiley finds he is several thousand in debt due to women messing him around for his money and failed hits, he decides to kidnap a Japanese girl, the daughter of an industrialist on the verge of hara-kiri after his movie flops! It just so happens that this girl is the god-daughter of his boss. As if that wasn't enough, his copy of the video KING KONG LIVES is overdue! Oh dear . . . The results are fast, frenetic and hilarious. Elliot Gould appears as the on-the-wagon father of another potential fiancee(Christina Applegate, who is a real hottie). And when his bosses learn of his unauthorised kidnapping, the fun bursts into stylised action with gunfights and explosions galore! John Woo produced this, and it shows well! This has something for Hong Kong action fans, something for teenage airhead humour freaks and a little bit of girl power for chick-flick lovers. Everyone will enjoy this, in other words!

If one of your favorite parts of Pulp Fiction was the time spent with Jules and Vincent, then these guys are going to crack you up.

They have lives (of a sort), they have women (maybe a few to many, maybe a few too few), and they have money. What they don't have is any common sense.

The story shows you how Melvin is struggeling to cope with his fiancee in one house and his mistress next door, his slacker co-workers (also professional hitmen), and a serious ulcer brough on because he really just doesn't want to "have anyone not like him". A likeable hitman? That seems a bit much.

But he is the one character you really do like. The action is great, the acting is great, the jokes are just two steps to far. I'm a big fan of stupid humor, I like clever one liners, I keep waiting to find enough of either to get me that last star and I just haven't found it yet.

this movie kicked. it was pure fun baby. it's about 4 hit men who kidnap a daughter of a wealthy movie actor and then later find out that they kidnapped their boss's goddaughter. the 4 are really excellent, Mark Wahlberg(whos really sensitive at times in this movie and really fun) Bookem Woodbine( who really loves the porn) Antonion Sabato Jr( who doesnt have much screen time but his screen time pays off well) and Low Diamond Phillips( who's the stand out in this movie, very funny, very energetic and has some of the best moments in this place).Robin Dunne has a amusing part as the kid Gump. Christian Applegate is very, very delicious and tasty, I wanna eat her with a spoon if I had one. this one's over the hizay

WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS RATED PG

Is the film flawed? Oh YEAH!! Are there ridiculous lapses in logic? You bet!! Is it fun? I think so.

I'm not quite sure how to describe this movie. It's about a likeable hitman, who kicks serious butt and racks up a huge body count, but he's the only person we care about in the movie. His co-horts are untrustworthy and (gasp!) lazy, and his two girlfriends are both horrid in their own special ways.

The movie is an action comedy...but not in the way we might expect (a la Rush Hour or its ilk). It is obvious the budget was low, so the makers of the film decided the whole tone of the film should be cheesy.

But almost everyone in the movie gets into the style of silliness, and thus a non-finicky viewer has an amusing 90 minutes. Here's one example of the ever-shifting tone: Mark Wahlberg (our likable hit man) is coming home to his fiancee (Christina Applegate...a jewish princess with an over-the-top accent and really tight pants). He is driving with a chopped up body in the trunk, and pulls into his suburban driveway...except its not his house, just one that looks exactly like all the other houses in the neighborhood. Someone yells out "Wrong house!" and Wahlberg pulls back out and into the right driveway. The scene takes about three seconds, but it's funny because it's incongruous. How many hit men live in suburbia...at least in movies?

Everyone in the movie is WAY OVER THE TOP in their performances. Lanie Kazan actually seems reserved...if that gives you an idea. Elliott Gould is totally gross and very funny. Bokeem Woodbine is amusing in the role of a thug with a fixation on masturbation. Lou Diamond Phillips is totally unlikeable as a character, but gosh darn it, he sures seems to be having fun. The whole film is a lark.

It also plays right into Mark Wahlberg's strengths. Wahlberg seems to have the "nice guy" act down very well. It's why Boogie Nights worked so well...he was just so innocent and likeable. In PERFECT STORM and THREE KINGS, it was his innocent nature that worked for him. As soon as he starts getting serious or pensive or angry...it stops working. And in FEAR, with Reese Witherspoon, he tries sinister and comes off silly. He takes the "aw shucks" nice guy attitude to the nth degree in THE BIG HIT, and we really root for him.

This is not a movie for film "criticism." It would totally fall apart under scrutiny, whether for logic, continuity or artistry. But if you're in the mood just to have a little fun, and like guns going off, and cars crashing, and a bit of satire while you're at it...you could do worse.