The Hitman (1991)

People are voting emotionally.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Originally envisioned as a vehicle for Charles Bronson this movie uses pretty much the same story you have seen in Kurosawa's "Yojimbo " , Sergio Leone's "Fistful of dollars" or Walter Hill's "Last man standing" - a guy wants two gangs to kill each other , so he tricks them in a war. The only original part of the screenplay is the pretty cute if not out of place subplot of Norris helping little kid to deal with bully. The story Chuck Norris' character tells about being harassed by a bully actually did happen to Norris while he was growing up.The cinematography is cool , the movie looks pretty atmospheric at night. Norris looks actually pretty badass with his beard , mullet and trench coat.Aaron Norris' somehow managed to competently direct for once. This is his best movie. It's not boring and it helped me to kill some time when I was bored. It's the stuff you can see late at night on cable-TV.If you like Norris you probably will like this movie . If you don't like him , it's unlikely that you will become a fan after this movie . I give it 2/10.

This time Chuck Norris stars as an undercover cop, presumed dead after his partner betrayed him by shooting him multiple times during a routine sting operation. He infiltrates an Italian mob organized in Seattle. Meanwhile, two other criminal organizations, the Arabs and French mobs, desire to operate exclusively in Seattle. Well as Danny Grogen, Chuck's job is to align Andre Lacombe(Marcel Sabourin), the French mobster working in Vancouver, with Marco Luganni(Al Waxman)so that the police can nab them together..but Grogan's old nemesis, Del(Michael Parks)is working with the Arab mob and this will make things particularly difficult. Del is an opportunist and uses Marco(..who believes Del is on his side) to take out Lacombe, but Grogan has other plans for him. When Del attempts to blow up Grogan's neighbor's boy, it gets REALLY personal.Despite what seems like a complex story really is still your basic tale of revenge and retribution. Grogen is the only, except the little black boy he befriends, character who isn't a dirtbag so when he shoots somebody or beats some scumbag to the pulp, you root for him if just by default. I found it amusing that Chuck not only has one mob to contend with, but three! I enjoyed how Chuck's Grogen could just walk up on his adversaries, often with the result being some mob goon laid on his back, bleeding or seriously harmed. My favorite sequence has Chuck wiping out a dinner table full of Arabs in their own restaurant. There's a ton of mob violence with men from each organization setting the others up, with bullets riddling bodies. And, boy, does Grogen get him some of Del! That's quite a BLAST of a finale! The film finds time to include a sub-plot where Chuck helps out a little black boy being bullied by white racists, for which he teaches him the fundamentals of defending yourself. As you'd expect, Chuck lands a pretty loud punch to the bastard father's face(..he's your typical thuggish, foul racist white trash monster, abusive towards his son if the kid doesn't bully those supposedly inferior), breaking his nose in the process to the delight of the audience, I'm sure."The Hit-man" isn't exactly up to par with Chuck's 80's stuff, but it delivers plenty of violence and Norris does get to conduct his usual "one man army" shtick, blowing apart the legs, chests, and faces of mobsters in the warehouse climax with a small shotgun, as all three organizations buck for supremacy, falling short due to their inabilities to "share turf". Michael Parks, who many recognize as a consistent face in QT / Rodriguez joints, has a small but pivotal part as the slimy, vulgar antagonist who(..as many villains in these films often do)leaves Norris alive when he had him right where he wanted him. This will come back to bite him right on the ass. To provide motivation for fans of ultra-violence, a victim is rope-tied to a chair, hung outside a window, with a bomb that detonates exploding his body into millions of pieces!

Chuck Norris stars as a police officer who goes undercover to take out mobsters who are warring over the drug market. They include Middle Eastern mobsters, typical Itallian mobsters and Candian(!) mobsters who all declare war on each other, which then of course causes Norris to wipe out all three of the families and settle a score with Michael Parks(The best thing about this movie.) If anything else The Hit-man is a one man show, with Norris trumping anyone who really gets in his way. Back in 1991 I remember catching this in a triple-bill with Showdown In Little Tokyo and Out For Justice, to which in comparison to each movie The Hit-man lacked the edge of Out For Justice and the inspired action of Showdown In Little Tokyo. Also Lundgren, Seagal and Lee seemed far more agile and charismatic than Norris ever did in this film. Indeed had Seagal done this movie instead of Norris and I mean back in his heyday, Seagal would have provided enough edge to really get into this clichéd nonsense. Because we know Norris is always righter than right, we never feel as if he's facing a grave danger and is falling under the spell of evil. Norris is as always Norris and although the action sequences are okay, they are uneventful and the real plus comes only from watching Michael Parks overact. In fact his scenery chewing performance somehow makes the movie come to life which is not often enough unfortunately.*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

I like this movie. i first rented it to watch with my girlfriend in about 1992 - she didn't like it for some reason but i was impressed with the change of character by Norris compared to his Texas Ranger, Delta Force movies.The storyline of someone left for dead only to come back a few years later to even the score with his corrupt partner who tried to kill him is a bit corny and has been done before this movie I'm sure but the coldness of Norris when he blows people away is what makes this watchable, not least when he kicks ass big style in the Iranians' club! However, Canadian mob boss Andre Lecombe's 'minder' is possibly the least likely gangster i have ever seen in a movie and does not convince! The Hit-man is pretty hard to find these days and could be regarded as a collectors item if you're a Chuck Norris fan.