![]() ![]() ![]() The activation of this fund attracts to Hong Kong an international parade of contract killers, and we meet the impoverished Fu (Jet Li), a former soldier from mainland China who ended up a member of a small-time gang of hitmen. Before his assassination, the former yakuza boss had set up a “revenge fund” of $100 million, which would go to whomever hunted down and killed his killer. In Hong Kong, a Japanese crime lord named Tsukamoto (Sahara Kenji) is murdered by a mysterious masked assassin known as the King of Killers, or the “Killing Angel,” a man who kills notorious criminals for free. I didn’t know I’d be laughing out loud throughout. I came into this film not knowing anything about it other than that Jet Li starred and that it had something to do with hitmen. ![]() The problem may be that in a film like this, Jet lacks the screen presence to hold our attention and ultimately makes the long wait between the action set pieces just too long.This is a review of the 1998 Hong Kong action-comedy directed by Tung Wai and starring Jet Li, Eric Tsang, Simon Yam and Gigi Leung, not the 2007 video game adaptation directed by Xavier Gens and starring Timothy Olyphant. However, the movie has its moments, notably a short and well crafted fight between Tai Feng (Jet Li) and a lanky American halfway through the film and a powerful final reel showcasing guns, swords, fists, feet and plenty of broken glass.Īs always, Eric Tsang is a joy to watch displaying some fine acting in one of his more serious roles, but in all I would have expected more from the production team that brought us ‘Black Mask’. ![]() Also, without a Yuen Kwai or Yuen Woo Ping to design the action it all seems a little lacking in what should be the most important area of the film. It would appear from watching a number of Jet Li films that he has distinctly less presence when carrying modern day actioners like this rather than period kung fu dramas such as ‘Fist of Legend’ or ‘Once Upon a Time in China’.Įven though this movie is well directed showing good manipulation of the camera and scene settings, while displaying a supporting cast of Hong Kong’s finest, one is not compelled to watch this movie more than a couple of times and is therefore only worth renting but not buying. ![]()
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