The Replacement Killers (1998)

Truly Dreadful Film

One of the worst movies I've ever seen

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

John Lee (Yun-Fat) is an expert marksman/gunman/assassin/gun enthusiast who works for crime lord Mr. Wei (Tsang). All his life he's followed the orders of his superiors, but when his latest hit is meant to be carried out not just on a hardworking cop named Zedkov (Rooker), but also his seven-year-old son, Lee finds he can't pull the trigger. In order to disappear and get back to his family in China, he needs forged documents, so he goes to see Meg Coburn (Sorvino), an expert in such things. Soon enough, Wei sends many waves of goons to kill off the unlikely duo. When an underboss, Kogan (Prochnow), can't kill them fast enough, Wei sends for "The Replacement Killers" - played in the movie by Schweiger and Trejo - to kill not just Zedkov but also Lee and Coburn. This all sets the stage for lots and lots of gun shooting. Who will get killed and who will get replaced? Find out today...It seems pretty obvious, especially looking back now, that The Replacement Killers was an attempt to bring John Woo-style action to Hollywood. Woo did act as executive producer, after all, but did not direct the film. That, in this case, went to Fuqua, and this was his first feature-length production after a career making MTV videos in the 90's, and it really, really shows. There is a lot of style and flash, but not much of a narrative structure, as you might expect from a background like that, and certainly on someone's first attempt. (Evidently there was more character development at one point, but it was left on the cutting room floor). If this all sounds like negative criticism, it's not. The movie is lightweight and entertaining, and without a doubt it delivers the action goods.Chow-Yun Fat is one of the coolest cats around, and no one looks more awesome shooting guns or putting on sunglasses. In the 90's there was an attempt by Hollywood to also put Jackie Chan in theaters, and that was appreciated, but seemingly did not last long. We, of course, enjoyed seeing Operation Condor (1997) and Jackie Chan's First Strike (1996) on the big screen. If it could be done with Kung Fu, why not Gun-Fu? And who better to play the classic "killer with a conscience" than Chow-Yun Fat? With endless gun battles and slo-mo moments (slo-moments?...actually that would be misleading as there are no slow moments in the film), all set to the sounds of the prerequisite late-90's electronica such as Tricky, The Crystal Method and Death in Vegas (apparently Portishead was unavailable), how can you lose? If you're a fan of action setpieces (and who isn't), you don't.Such things as described above were tried unsuccessfully before, i.e. Killing Time (1998), but, thankfully, The Replacement Killers gets the simply-plotted assassin shooting movie right. There's enough cannon fodder for the good guys to shoot at and it never really lets up. Backing up Fat and Sorvino is an impressive cast of Comeuppance favorites: Michael Rooker as the cop, Danny Trejo as one of the Replacement Killers, the fascinatingly-named Clifton Collins Jr. is the "Machine Gun Joe" character, Patrick Kilpatrick as a baddie, Jurgen Prochnow as another baddie (looking a lot like Robert Davi here), and, in blink-or-you'll-miss them goon roles, action mainstays James Lew and Al Leong. And at only 84 minutes without the credits, it all comes in at a good running time. More movies - hell, ALL movies - should be 84 minutes. Kudos to the production for a reasonable length here.So while wags may complain that there's not much substance and the whole thing is like an extended music video, those people are missing the point. There's no time to waste as The Replacement Killers remains fast-paced, enjoyable fun.

One word can describe this film - AMAZING. Chow Yun-Fat has proved that he has action in his veins. Mira Sorvino has proved to the world of cinema that she is by far THE performer of her family, good looks and kick ass skills. Michael Rooker is one of my favorite actors and this role proved to me that he can handle the roles put out in front of him. In the world of Chinese triad, Yakuza and all things illegal this film rolls them into one great script adding in three great performances and a mix of action, intrigue and witty one liners makes for a blockbuster. All three characters have good/bad qualities and makes for great viewing pleasure. The chemistry of Mira & Chow is fantastic. Hated Mira in high school reunion but this has changed my opinion of her. Action from start to finish - BRILLIANT. Mystery - Who is the good guy? Leave it to you to decide.

John Lee owes a debt to Mr. Wei, a Notorious LA drug-lord. When a cop kills Wei's son during a drug bust, Wei instructs Lee to kill the cop's seven- year old son while they are at play. Lee can't pull the trigger, and he knows Wei will punish him by going after Lee's mother and sister in Shanghai. To reach them fast, Lee needs a hot passport. He seeks out Meg Coburn, an expert in counterfeit ID.But Wei's men are already on Lee's trail, and they must fight them off, evade the cops, face the titular hit men imported to finish Lee's job.....If the film were about The Replacement Killers, then it would have starred Trejo and Schweiger, sounds more intriguing. But that would be if it was made now, and the film would have sounded a lot like a romantic comedy if it were called John and Meg.But to get maximum enjoyment from this movie, you really need to take Chows earlier movies he did with John Woo, because if you go into this expecting something like that, you will find that you will dislike it a lot.Its a big explosion of a film, light on plot and narrative, huge on big, loud set pieces, wonderful mid nineties techno soundtrack, and very clunky dialogue.And its a lot of fun, Fuqua gives the audience very little time to breath between set pieces, and Chow is as cocky as you'd expect him to be, and you will forget Sorvino won an Oscar two years prior to this.All In all, a big dumb, loud summer action film, very cool to look at and to listen to, but it will rot your brain if watched lots and lots of times.

John Lee (Yun-Fat Chow) is a skilled killer. Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang) is his boss. He's given a final assignment after which his obligation ends. Corrupt cop Michael Kogan (Jürgen Prochnow) wants fellow cop Zedkov (Michael Rooker) dead, but John can't pull the trigger as he plays with his kid. John needs to get a fake passport to go back to China before Mr Wei takes him out. He uses forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino), but Wei's men tracks him down. John is in the wind and Wei brings in other professionals, the Replacement Killers.It's a very superficial action movie in the HongKong style. It's a lot of flash but very little depth. Directed by Antoine Fuqua, the style is copied with mixed results. It feels very much like a transplanted movie especially with Chow Yun-Fat's Chinese accent. He's playing an unemotional killer, and quite frankly Mira Sorvino is almost as cold. Antoine isn't experienced enough yet but the style already shows promising signs. This is an exercise in style rather than a compelling story.