Fulltime Killer (2001)

terrible... so disappointed.

Please don't spend money on this.

A story that's too fascinating to pass by...

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Johnnie To carved out a niche for himself as an action director with stylistic flair, humour, and a penchant for plots that become incomprehensible during the movie's second half.Sometimes these ingredients are just right, as with his wonderful late '90s film "The Longest Nite". Other times the incomprehensible plot undercuts the film's impact, as with "The Mission" and "Running Out of Time". And finally, sometimes the movie's style is the clincher.Such is the case with "Fulltime Killer". Don't get me wrong, it's still a deliriously entertaining movie, but it is truly style over substance, which may or may not be a bad thing from your perspective.The plot is sillier than most of To's works: it involves two hired killers, one Japanese, the other Cantonese, who are out for each other's blood. There is a girl who comes between them, and the Cantonese assassin takes her under his wing. She doesn't seem at all put off by his profession and is firing high-powered sniper rifles in record time. Not bad for a video store employee.There is also a cop out to catch one or both of our anti-heroes. He is played by none other than Simon Yam. Does Yam always play cops in these movies? This movie doesn't get as confusing as most of To's fare. The script feels more like an excuse for style, which is has by the bucket-load. There are even shoot outs which are closer to Woo's "Hard-Boiled" than they are to To's generally more static gun fights."Fulltime Killer" is the kind of movie that you'll probably enjoy very much while it's on, but won't think about it much afterwards. And that may be the point.

This film tells parallel stories about two top assassins--one very professional and one who is incredibly flamboyant and seems to have a death wish. At first, it was very hard for me to tease apart the stories, as they merged here and there and intertwined and even went backwards and forwards in time. Ultimately, the younger flamboyant assassin attempts to kill the more experienced killer--sort of a fight to the death to see who really is #1.I love Asian films but I hate the over-the-top violence of some of these films. It's funny but a week ago, I watched STREET FIGHTER (Japan, 1974) and later read the DVD box to see it had been rated X--but this film was STILL a lot less bloody and violent than many modern Asian films (such as those of John Woo or Chuen jik sat sau. There just comes a point for me when there is so much killing and blood and Nihilism that I just can't watch the films--this film was nearly that violent. Plus, there is a lot of puking and foaming at the mouth (this part really isn't explained--after all, WHO foams at the mouth and WHY?). So, before watching, understand the film IS well-made but I really cannot recommend it due to its unrelenting violence that really gets in the way of the plot at times. However, there IS a very good story behind all the violence and I must admit the film has high production values.

In this film the director stays well ahead of us, pulling us into the baroque plot with a grin. Andy Lau and Takeshi Scaramachi are anti-heroes within a sexually charged subplot with Kelly Lin, cool and sexy with or without glasses. They work in the same field: assassination and soon they are seeking each other out for final termination. As with some stylish thrillers, ellipsis must be accepted. Oscar Wilde once said "The first purpose of life is to adopt a pose. The second purpose has not been discovered yet." This film revels in poses and extraordinary set pieces that are passionately beautiful. Beware how much you revel in the violence, stylized and chic as it is--even an assassin can feel sickened by his work. In some ways, the film parallels John Woo's "Face Off." A must see.

There seem to be a lot of Japanese movies that are pure exercises in style. I tend to like highly cinematic movies, so I usually enjoy myself, but somewhere along the way I always seem to go from thinking, this is just so cool to thinking, is there some point here. Fulltime Killer is lots of fun. It is very stylish, looks nice and has some very striking scenes. But it has about as much depth as a piece of typing paper. There's not much in the way of character development, and the movie feels increasingly unconvincing as it progresses. So while there is stuff I love, like the scene with the grenades, the movie as a whole failed to connect with me on any sort of intellectual or emotional level. Still, it is lots of fun, and I was torn between giving it a 7 or an 8 (which is usually the quandary I face when rating stylish, empty movies). Well worth watching, but not worth remembering.