The Replacement Killers

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Mira Sorvino
Directed by: Antoine Fuqua
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Crime
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: An assassin (Chow Yun-Fat) is assigned to kill a police offer, but finds himself unable to when he discovers the cop has a child. The contract is then given to a group of replacement killers, and he is added as a target. The assassin teams up with a document forger (Mira Sorvino) and tries to get both of them out of the situation alive.

Review:

Tim: This film set a record for the most gunshots fired in an American movie. You'll be amazed at how many shots ring out. It's not like this movie is necessarily more violent than other action filsm, it is just that every action scene is jampacked with gunfire.

This was Chow Yun-Fat's first American movie. This fact can be seen on scene, although Yun-Fat does a very good job. Six months before the filming, he spoke almost no English and took a crash course in the language. Considering all this, his performance is pretty impressive. He is a bit stoic and enjoyable in the role.

Mira Sorvino is actually pretty good. She is fun to watch and works well with Yun-Fat. I'm not a fan of hers, but this is one of her better performances.

This film is not as stylish or as cool as it needed to be. The hitman with a conscience makes for an entertaining storyline, but Yun-Fat's lack of American film experience hurts a bit. The focus is on the gunfights, but this detracts a bit from the story. Chinese-American crime thrillers are an interesting subgenre, and while this is a decent film, it is slightly flawed. However, action fans should enjoy the gun battles and the intense situations Yun-Fat and Sorvino get themselves into. If nothing else, this film is important because it introduced Chow Yun-Fat to American audiences.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Bulletproof Monk