fludd.org - Movie Review

After they’ve appeared in a bad movie like City on Fire, Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee team up again under the direction of John Woo. While Danny Lee is playing a cop, Chow Yun-Fat, on the other hand, is playing the killer. This is a change for both actors. Now, as we can see it in the final result, The Killer is certainly John Woo’s finest movie, but it is also one of the best action movies that come from Hong Kong. Even some narrative elements might seem quite strange, The Killer is not only a movie that you should watch, but also a movie that you should also have in your collection.

As opposed to A Better Tomorrow, which is another movie directed by John Woo, The Killer doesn’t fall into clichés that are related to Asian action movies in the development of the characters. As a result of that, the movie viewers get the chance to admire a set of characters that are absolutely not artificial even though John Woo deals with the same themes that are always present in his gunfight movies such as honour, friendship, brotherhood and vengeance. Evidently, the main characters of A Better Tomorrow were corresponding to the traditional model of Asian action heroes.

However, in this Chinese fine work of art we don’t see a killer (Chow Yun-Fat) or a cop (Danny Lee) that we’re normally used to see in action movies. Because of John Woo’s ability to think outside the box when it comes to crafting the characters, we do get to see characters that are animated by many nuances and a psychological depth that we rarely see in action movies from Hong Kong, be it a martial arts or a gunfight flick. Furthermore, these characters are perfectly well rendered by the well-chosen cast.

As John (the killer), Chow Yun-Fat (A Better Tomorrow) is certainly stealing the spotlight once again with his astonishing performance. If this movie was presented in an international movie festival, Chow Yun-Fat would have won an award for his memorable performance. With this character, Chow Yun-Fat is symbolizing at the same time freedom and violence. His character, as we can see it, clearly believes in the virtue of justice, but he must establish a balance between his aggressiveness and his individual ethics. This psychological struggle leads us to moving scenes in which John, the killer, express in various scenes his sensitiveness and puts away his cold-blood attitude. This is why he’s the kind of killer who would risk his life to save a girl from bullets (i.e. the gunfight scene on the beach). All in all, the killer is someone who wants to bring justice, but he also stay adhered to morals.

As Inspector Li, Danny Lee (City on Fire) plays a cop who is chasing the killer, but at the same time, he envies this killer in question. In the movie, Inspector Li is a cop who is working with his own methods even though his boss doesn’t seem to appreciate that. This is why, during an encounter with the killer, Inspector Li openly admits that he envies the freedom that the killer has. John seems to owe nothing to a boss while Inspector Li feels strangled, in a manner of speaking, by a form of authority. This will eventually lead Inspector Li to try to bring justice all by himself. Obviously, this thirst for justice will also lead Inspector Li and John to become friends, even though their friendship is being developed in a very strange way. As a result of this friendship between the two leading characters, the chemistry between Chow Yun-Fat and Danny Lee is absolutely incredible.

Many people must admit that the script of The Killer is absolutely near perfection, but although this brilliant film directed by John Woo (A Better Tomorrow ; Face/Off) could have received five stars out of five, it still has a very annoying flaw. The movie The Killer might be a movie that entertains you so much, but it does nonetheless apall the audience with its visible lack of realism at times. For example, how can you perform a whole gunfight scene (after you've been shot in the arm) without expressing any pain? What I'm trying to say is that the characters just reveal their pain after the gunfight scene is over. Hey, don't worry, it's just a movie, but these are things that you must consider.

Anyway, let's put aside the different aspects of the script in order to talk about the gunfight scenes, because I'm sure that you all watch a movie made by John Woo to see the gunfight scenes. This time, it seems that John Woo has been granted of a bigger margin of manoeuvre. That explains why the gunfight scenes are shot with more creativity and a heavy stylistics. Moreover, let me guarantee you that all the things that you see during the gunfight scenes and other scenes in The Killer will be reproduced in Woo's first American movie Face/Off. The elegance of The Killer doesn't necessarily lie in the beautiful script and the impeccable acting, but also from the ability of John Woo to combine extreme violence and drama. As a result of that, The Killer looks like an elegant ballet show that is unique. Hopefully, the violent scenes are just not there to fill some blank spaces, but rather to bring you directly into the mind of the characters, because it is also through violence that we get to know the true personality of the characters.

Finally, I'd rather say that The Killer is not just one of the best action movies from Hong Kong, but also one of the greatest movies of the world I've had the chance to see. Obviously, just like most people who watched this movie, I found the visible lack of realism very irksome, but this movie blew me away very quickly as soon as the action began. Moreover, I was astounded by the way John Woo combines violence and drama to make his characters evolve. Each of the main character all have different way to define justice, but they defend the value of friendship, brotherhood and honour. Hopefully, even though these themes can be seen in The Killer, John Woo stay far from the clichés. All in all, The Killer is a movie for both the action seekers and the art lovers. This is, in my opinion, the best movie from John Woo.

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