Fulltime Killer (2001)
Review by Doc Ezra
Film:
DVD:

Written by Joey O'Bryan and Wai Ka Fai, based on the novel by Ho Cheung Ping
Directed by Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai
Starring Andy Lau, Takashi Sorimachi, Simon Yam, Kelly Lin, and Cherrie Ying

Features:

• Making-of featurette
  
• Behind the scenes footage
  
• Trailers
  

Released by: Palm Pictures/Lions Gate
Region: 1
Rating: R
Anamorphic: Yes

My Advice: If Hong Kong action gets your blood pumping, you need this film.

The finest assassin in all of Asia is a cypher known to the authorities only as "O." Reclusive, untraceable, and always lethal, O (Sorimachi) leads a simple life in a tiny unlit room across the street from a decoy apartment that he never uses. Then, his life begins to get complicated. First, a rival killer has appeared on the scene. Young, brash, and incredibly flamboyant, Tok (Lau) is looking to establish himself as the number one assassin in town, and he's going about it in the loudest, messiest way possible. O's problems don't end there, as he finds himself increasingly drawn to the housekeeper that cleans his decoy apartment, Chin (Lin).

In order to prove himself the better killer, Tok commits a few high-profile killings in broad daylight, leaving plenty of witnesses to help spur the growth of his personal legend. This, of course, gets the police going nuts, as now they have not one, but two deadly assassins to track down before the streets run red. Heading up the case to catch the two killers is Inspector Lee (Yam), whose difficulties in getting his hands on either of the duo seems to be having a lasting effect on his mental stability. Ultimately, the two assassins are going to have to square off to decide once and for all who's the best there is. The murders and car chases and police investigations mount as the pair dance around each other in a ballet of bullets and explosions, culminating in an explosive ending that leaves viewers with as many questions as answers.

Fulltime Killer is as close as any have come to the Platonic Ideal of the Hong Kong Action Movie since John Woo established that such a perfect form might exist. Its chief drawbacks lie in occasionally taking itself too seriously and doing so with a story that's as old as the genre itself (possibly older), which leads to a certain amount of unavoidable cliché. Tok's obsession with action movies smacks of self-referential awareness, which strikes me as just a shade this side of pretensious. And the whole idea of two killers caught up in a weird sort of love/hate relationship wherein one must kill the other to establish dominance (resisting temptation to refer to it as "homoerotic" here) has been bouncing around in stories for as long as there have been stories.

There is little doubt that Johnnie To and Wai Ka Fai know precisely what they're doing, though. The film's set pieces are pure HK action, uncluttered by any extraneous elements that would get in the way of flying bullets and outrageous acrobatics. The pacing of the story keeps events moving quickly from one shoot-out sequence to another, dropping just enough dialogue and story points in between to provide momentum and importance to the inevitable shooting.

The acting is solid across the board. The leads and supporting roles are all well-executed and engaging characters, which is pretty important in maintaining the moral ambiguity of the picture. If it ever becomes easy to decide who's a "good guy" and who's a "bad guy," then the story loses much of its dramatic bite. Andy Lau looks to be having an immense amount of fun with this story. It seems a bit odd to cast him in the role of "young upstart" at the tender age of forty, but to be fair, he doesn't much look his age. To those that have seen a decent amount of Lau's work, though, it will be a bit jarring.

Sorimachi is making his HK debut here as the "elder" assassin "O," despite being twelve years Lau's junior. He is perhaps best known for his work as Eikichi Onizuka in the live-action Japanese show Great Teacher Onizuka, where his performance drew one of the highest television audiences ever in the final episode. Given his performance here, I think Hong Kong will come to love him as much as the Japanese audience does.

The DVD provides a couple of choice extras, including a making-of featurette that sheds a little light on how different HK film companies and their American counterparts really are. The behind-the-scenes footage is a nice addition, and as so few HK flicks get any sort of respectable treatment in the West at all, it really makes this disc stand out from the crowd. The video transfer is beautiful and crisp, and the audio is a full-on 5.1 surround sound mix--perfect for those massive gun battles to reverberate through your living room and get the neighbors calling 911. Any fan of Hong Kong films or action flicks in general will want this one on their DVD rack pronto.