The Big Hit

Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Bokeem Woodbine, Antonio Sabato Jr., China Chow, Elliott Gould
Directed by: Kirk Wong
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Comedy
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A hit man (Mark Wahlberg) falls in love with a kidnapping victim (China Chow) and must fight for survival when he's framed as the mastermind behind the kidnapping.

Review:

Tim: Wow, The Big Hit is a surprisingly bad movie. I first watch this movie almost two decades after its release and I was excited to go back and watch a 90s action movie that I hadn't seen (there's not that many left anymore). I loved action movies in the 1990s. Unfortunately, there's probably a reason I never sought this one out- it's really bad. The biggest issue is that it's simply a poorly made movie. Hong Kong director Che-Kirk Wong was making his North American debut here and it did not go well. The acting is terrible, the pacing of the film felt far too frantic and nothing nothing we see is all that compelling (besides the occasional decent moment). All around, this film is an abject failure.

The story is all over the place. There's this group of hit men who are kind of friends but are really just bad people. They have a dangerous mobster boss. The hit men decide to do some freelance kidnapping, but accidentally kidnap their boss's daughter. One of the hit men decides to frame another one, who happens to be falling in love with the kidnap victim. Just typing that is causing me to roll my eyes. The whole thing happens in this breakneck, over-the-top speed. The movie never seems to take a breath, which is exhausting. The story is conveyed in this hyper manner that makes you cringe. There's no subtlety, no care shown with the story. It makes it hard to watch.

The cast is pretty bad. Mark Wahlberg actually turns into a solid actor later in his career, but man, he was bad in this movie. You have to somewhat blame the director as well, but Wahlberg's performance is forced throughout the whole film. I never really believed he was this character- it feels like he's acting the whole time. Now, he does have some charisma, so there's a few decent moments. As a whole, though, he's not very good. Lou Diamond Phillips and Antonio Sabato Jr. were both too over-the-top. I didn't care for their performances much at all. Now, I did enjoy moments of China Chow's performance. She doesn't seem to be a very talented actress (sorry), but she had a few good moments. Elliott Gould is perhaps the most talented member of the cast and gives a solid performance. Christina Applegate isn't too bad, either. Still, as a cast, it's hard to get excited about anything you see here.

The movie is supposed to be an action comedy, but it's really not funny. Many of the attempts at humor were so poorly done that it makes the film hard to watch. If you laugh, it's because what you're seeing is so stupid, so disconnected from reality. It's just not good in any way, shape or form. Now, there were some okay moments. I thought Wahlberg and Chow had some nice interaction. Their interactions were probably my favorite part of the movie. Some of the action was okay, I suppose.

The Big Hit isn't bad enough to make me feel negative or angry at what I watched. It's not quite a terrible movie, although it gets uncomfortably close to that distinction. Really, this is a movie that I had so little fun watching and clearly would never, ever subject myself to again.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Corruptor, Crime Story