Contract Killer (1998)

Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Memorable, crazy movie

Good concept, poorly executed.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

A down-on-his-luck and financially strapped ex-soldier named Fu (Li) - is reluctantly is drawn into becoming a hit-man after moving from the country to try and make it in the big city of Hong Kong. Before a mega-rich Japanese businessman is mercilessly assassinated, he smartly planned ahead and offered a hundred million dollars to whoever captures his killer. A whole panoply of money-grabbers come out of the woodwork to try and claim the loot by catching the wily killer, including the murdered tycoon's son Eiji (Sato). While Fu and a charismatic underworld type named Norman (at least in the U.S. version his name is Norman) (Tsang) are trying to work their way through the precarious situation they find themselves in, with the help of Kiki (Leung), a cop named Chan (Yam) is trying to prevent any more bloodshed. Who will find - or become - the "King of the Killers"? Find out today...We've always been big Jet Li fans, and Contract Killer is a solid showcase for his talents. It was fun watching him go from a thrifty ragamuffin to a dapper killer, but while still continuing to be a good guy at heart, of course. He even helps a group of children win stuffed animals at a carnival, including one lucky kid who gets a Big Bird and a Cookie Monster. Pretty sweet. Much of the transformation of Fu's character was done using a classic shopping montage, which we always love to see.Director Wei Tung, who is primarily known for being an actor and stuntman, turns in a well-shot, professional-looking product, and the U.S. DVD is in widescreen, which reinforces that. Unfortunately, it's English-dubbed only, with no option for the original spoken language. Another frustrating thing about the DVD presentation is that a lot of annoying rap music is shoehorned in all over the place. In many scenes, funky-fresh beats just randomly start playing, and of course it's all over the opening and closing credits. The lyrics even appear if you turn on the closed-captioning. Here's a prime example, and we quote: "contract killer, yo." Our question is: WHY? Is there someone out there who would enjoy the movie exactly as it is, but the fact that there isn't rap on the soundtrack every two minutes cause him to lose faith and interest in the film? Would that really be a dealbreaker for someone? Of course, the main reason to watch Contract Killer is for the Martial Arts fights, and there are some absolute killers on display. It really is a pleasure to watch Jet Li work his magic. We definitely felt these high-quality and extremely well-executed fights should have lasted longer, and there should have been more of them. But what we do get is top-notch stuff. Not to belabor the point, but watching these beautifully choreographed battles with some piped-in hip-hop is like spray painting over fine art. But honestly it's not really reason enough to avoid seeing this movie, especially considering it's available dirt cheap and is widely accessible.While not without its flaws, Contract Killer boasts some impressive fights, and is one of the last pager-era Martial Arts extravaganzas.

Contract Killer(Sat sau ji wong) has dynamite action scenes but they are too few and far between. Jet Li is teamed up with a guy who, I swear, could pass for John Belushi's long lost Chinese half brother. The dubbing is ludicrous in the version I bought. I found out that there is a better version known as Hit-man that is also six minutes longer. Anyway, the little fat guy even sounds like Belushi and is the comic relief as a con man. Jet Li is a wannabe hit-man and doesn't know the first thing about it although he kicks ass like crazy. A Japanese mobster is killed by the "King of Killers" and his family ponies up a reward of one hundred million dollars. Jet's character, Fu, and "Norman", the fat guy, con their way into the competition and mayhem ensues. The so called comedy is pretty lame but there are a few good jokes. The action, as I said is terrific and intense. The Japanese employ a tall, white guy as a body guard/killer and he is wicked bad. He has a neat gimmick with tiny, high intensity flashlights (lasers?) disguised as rings and in the toes of his shoes which he uses to temporarily blind his opponents so he can beat the bejesus out of them. There is a weird scene where the grandson of the slain Mr.Big eats some of grand pa's ashes. I think it was to gain his strength, or something like that. Anyway, it was bizarre and different, which is a good thing. I don't know who does the English voice overs on these movies but they should list those people on the credits because it is their hard work which you hear on the soundtrack. So, for good martial art ass kickery, this movie delivers. You will need to "fast forward" through the stupid stuff

Jet Li (Hero, Black Mask etc.) and Erik Tsang (Infernal Affairs) star in this wire fu action flick with an identity crisis. We start in kind of Jackie Chan territory with plenty of humour with Li a bumbling incompetent hit-man and Tsang a small time crook getting involved in a multi-million dollar 'hit'. As the film goes on all the comedy moments are forgotten and we begin to move into a serious action flick involving a bit more gun play than the usual Jet Li film, in fact it comes across at times as a cross between a Jet Li film and a John Woo heroic bloodshed type affair.The action sequences are all to the high standard expected of Jet with a few added gun play sequences. Li is very likable in the lead role and Tsang is very good in his sidekick role showing a different persona to his performance in Infernal affairs.Overall a fairly good hong kong action flick but the differing styles clash at times 6/10

This movie is called Hitman, and Jet Li holds the main character, so you would expect that he is a well trained, bad ass hitman, who kills a lot of people. But no, he is a child-lover who collects coins, and is for some reason good at karate, or what art of combat it is he is using. That really doesn't matter much, because Jet Li is hardly ever fighting in the poor number of combat-scenes this picture holds. Don't watch this movie. Gone With the Wind has more entertainment-value.