The Replacement Killers

B-

Directed by Antoine Fuqua Running Time: 1:47

I would call this a "cool" movie. It wasn't very deep, it wasn't particularly written well, or acted well, but it was "cool". What do I consider a "cool" movie? I'd say the "coolest" movie I've ever seen is The Crow. This wasn't as "cool" as The Crow. Another movie I thought was "cool" was Face/Off. This wasn't as "cool" as Face/Off. I'd say on a "cool" factor, The Replacement Killers was slightly below those two movies, and much higher than movies that try to be "cool" (like Two Days in the Valley, or crap like that). Killers marks the Hollywood debut of Chow Yun-Fat, one of the most highly regarded Asian actors ever. A couple years ago, another Asian import had this mystique about him. You remember Jackie Chan? Very popular all over the world, except in the U.S. So they brought him over here, had some success with Rumble in the Bronx, and since then has faded away. Chow Yun-Fat is not Jackie Chan. While Chan's movies tend to be comic-action, Yun-Fat's films are dramatic action (The Killer, Hard Boiled to name a couple). He only learned English a couple years ago, so when he speaks, it's a little hard to understand at times, but you understand what he's trying to get across. Ok, enough about him, on to the movie.

Yun-Fat plays John Lee, a hired assassin, who is hired to kill a cop's son. He can't bring himself to do it, so the man who hired him, hires replacement killers (get it?) to kill Lee, and to kill the cop's son. Along the way, Lee needs a fake passport to get to China to save his family, and the lovely Mira Sorvino happens to be the one who makes the passport. So the two of them end up on the run from the replacement killers, and to save the cop's son. Now, why is Lee a hired killer? The explanation given is murky. Wei, the man who hired Lee, seems to own Chinatown (to be honest I don't even remember what city this took place in... I think it was L.A.). Wei forces Lee to kill for him. But like I said earlier, Yun-Fat can be hard to understand at times. But this movie isn't about story, dialogue, it's about action. And it has a lot of action. It's the actions sequences that make it a "cool" movie. First there's the mystique about Yun-Fat being the action star of the world. Then there's the slow-motion camera shots, and the slow-motion sounds. The "cool" music in the background, the scenes in the temple. The best thing about Face/Off was the action sequences. Poetic violence is what I called it at the time. The Replacement Killers has that same sort of feel, although not as deep as Face/Off was.

If not for the action scenes, this movie wouldn't have been worth the money. But if you want a "cool" movie, something that makes you come out of the theater, wishing you could walk in slow-motion with background music playing for you, go check The Replacement Killers out.