The Replacement Killers is notable for being the first feature film of director Antoine Fuqua and the initial American movie for international action superstar Chow Yun-Fat. It contains shootouts galore, piles of dead bodies, and minimal dialogue. The supporting cast is solid featuring plenty of familiar faces; some of whom were pretty popular in 1998 and a few more who would enjoy future success. Enhanced by techno music from the period and oozing with bloody violence the film should satisfy action enthusiasts.
The uncomplicated plot is a prime asset: John Lee (Chow) is a hitman employed by crime lord Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsaing); in order to provide security for his family in China Lee has made a deal to perform 3 tasks. He swiftly accomplishes the first two because they involve assassinating gangsters but he cannot fulfill the third: murdering the young son of police detective Zedkov (Michael Rooker). As a result Wei sends his army of gunmen after Lee and brings in replacement killers to complete Lee's task. Lee must survive long enough to escape to China and protect his mother and sister from more of Wei's goons. Along the way he acquires an ally in Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) whom he employs to concoct the phony travel documents required for his journey.
The setup for the film is the best part. Early scenes showcase Lee as an almost otherworldly assassin as he mows down thugs in a crowded nightclub which is followed by establishing Zedkov as an honorable cop forced to kill Wei's hotheaded son in a police raid. Wei is shown to be ruthless and unconcerned with the circumstances surrounding his child's death; he is determined to eliminate Zedkov's son as a reprisal. Meg is presented as a resourceful purveyor of bogus documents who lives by her wits and is one step ahead of the law until John Lee comes into her life. Unfortunately once Meg and Lee are thrown together the film devolves into an ever-escalating succession of increasingly ludicrous shootouts.
Director Fuqua cut his teeth as a music video director and that experience is omnipresent in his initial movie. The film is very episodic with clever camerawork, weird angles, slow motion action, and numerous techno songs to dileanate each violent set piece. Unfortunately the action becomes positively farcical in its excesses. There are endless shootouts with an infinite number of bullets being fired; most of which hit nothing but walls, windows, and furniture. The title characters in particular are two of the most incompetent assassins ever committed to celluloid. It would seem to me professional killers would be more careful with their ammunition, more subtle, and more stealthy; they certainly would avoid shooting up public places when they're only supposed to eliminate one or two targets. Even John himself never uses one well placed bullet when 8 will do. One particularly idiotic sequence requires a common automobile to absorb a hundred rounds of bullets and protect its occupants while remaining drivable. And of course my favorite trope permeates the story: supposedly professional gunmen can knock off every unimportant character with minimal effort but can never hit the heroes.
The Replacement Killers survives and endures on the charismatic performance of Chow Yun-Fat who demonstrates the kind of screen presence that made him a global superstar. He has minimal dialogue but clearly conveys every emotion his character has through body language and facial expressions. Of course, no one looks more natural handling a pair of pistols and Director Fuqua wisely incorporates some of Chow's iconic spinning moves when firing off rounds that he made famous in several John Woo films. He is most graceful in these moments and these action sequences achieve a balletic quality.
Chow receives able support from the cast. Mira Sorvino is particularly effective as Meg; she is both tough and vulnerable while looking like a natural with firearms. Her role is well-written and she is completely believable. Michael Rooker is hampered in his role of the noble cop only by lack of screen time as he delivers a compelling performance as well. Kenneth Tsang underplays perfectly as the thoroughly corrupt Terrance Wei while Juergen Prochnow conveys menace as Wei's top thug. The two title characters,Til Schweiger and Danny Trejo, look intimidating in their leather outfits and comically obvious as bad men while having perhaps 4 words of dialogue between them. Clifton Collins turns up in an abbreviated role as a small time hoodlum and hilariously overplays the part; it's a shame he didn't have more opportunities.
The Replacement Killers is a film that ultimately emerges as a bunch of music videos stitched together with a narrative thread that grows more tenuous as the show progresses. There are plenty of individual scenes that are compelling and action packed although in the context of the entire film they become ridiculously over the top and repetitive. All in all this movie will provide a fair amount of entertainment value and showcase action superstar Chow Yun-Fat in a representative role.
The uncomplicated plot is a prime asset: John Lee (Chow) is a hitman employed by crime lord Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsaing); in order to provide security for his family in China Lee has made a deal to perform 3 tasks. He swiftly accomplishes the first two because they involve assassinating gangsters but he cannot fulfill the third: murdering the young son of police detective Zedkov (Michael Rooker). As a result Wei sends his army of gunmen after Lee and brings in replacement killers to complete Lee's task. Lee must survive long enough to escape to China and protect his mother and sister from more of Wei's goons. Along the way he acquires an ally in Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) whom he employs to concoct the phony travel documents required for his journey.
The setup for the film is the best part. Early scenes showcase Lee as an almost otherworldly assassin as he mows down thugs in a crowded nightclub which is followed by establishing Zedkov as an honorable cop forced to kill Wei's hotheaded son in a police raid. Wei is shown to be ruthless and unconcerned with the circumstances surrounding his child's death; he is determined to eliminate Zedkov's son as a reprisal. Meg is presented as a resourceful purveyor of bogus documents who lives by her wits and is one step ahead of the law until John Lee comes into her life. Unfortunately once Meg and Lee are thrown together the film devolves into an ever-escalating succession of increasingly ludicrous shootouts.
Director Fuqua cut his teeth as a music video director and that experience is omnipresent in his initial movie. The film is very episodic with clever camerawork, weird angles, slow motion action, and numerous techno songs to dileanate each violent set piece. Unfortunately the action becomes positively farcical in its excesses. There are endless shootouts with an infinite number of bullets being fired; most of which hit nothing but walls, windows, and furniture. The title characters in particular are two of the most incompetent assassins ever committed to celluloid. It would seem to me professional killers would be more careful with their ammunition, more subtle, and more stealthy; they certainly would avoid shooting up public places when they're only supposed to eliminate one or two targets. Even John himself never uses one well placed bullet when 8 will do. One particularly idiotic sequence requires a common automobile to absorb a hundred rounds of bullets and protect its occupants while remaining drivable. And of course my favorite trope permeates the story: supposedly professional gunmen can knock off every unimportant character with minimal effort but can never hit the heroes.
The Replacement Killers survives and endures on the charismatic performance of Chow Yun-Fat who demonstrates the kind of screen presence that made him a global superstar. He has minimal dialogue but clearly conveys every emotion his character has through body language and facial expressions. Of course, no one looks more natural handling a pair of pistols and Director Fuqua wisely incorporates some of Chow's iconic spinning moves when firing off rounds that he made famous in several John Woo films. He is most graceful in these moments and these action sequences achieve a balletic quality.
Chow receives able support from the cast. Mira Sorvino is particularly effective as Meg; she is both tough and vulnerable while looking like a natural with firearms. Her role is well-written and she is completely believable. Michael Rooker is hampered in his role of the noble cop only by lack of screen time as he delivers a compelling performance as well. Kenneth Tsang underplays perfectly as the thoroughly corrupt Terrance Wei while Juergen Prochnow conveys menace as Wei's top thug. The two title characters,Til Schweiger and Danny Trejo, look intimidating in their leather outfits and comically obvious as bad men while having perhaps 4 words of dialogue between them. Clifton Collins turns up in an abbreviated role as a small time hoodlum and hilariously overplays the part; it's a shame he didn't have more opportunities.
The Replacement Killers is a film that ultimately emerges as a bunch of music videos stitched together with a narrative thread that grows more tenuous as the show progresses. There are plenty of individual scenes that are compelling and action packed although in the context of the entire film they become ridiculously over the top and repetitive. All in all this movie will provide a fair amount of entertainment value and showcase action superstar Chow Yun-Fat in a representative role.