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John Woo, the directorial guru of action, the master of violence. His stylized action sequences were hip, fresh, and interesting. He slowed down the action to zero in on the gritty details of pain and violence, turning action into art. I like to think of his movies as a gory ballet, expertly choreographed with tight, bone crunching detail. John Woo changed the face of the action movie. The Killer follows the story of Chow Yun-Fat's grizzled hitman 'Jeff' - an old-fashioned sort of a contract killer who believes in duty, honour and responsibility.
As such, he's considered an anachronism by the new breed of Triads taking over the Hong Kong rackets, and he plans to retire just as soon as he can stump up the cash to move overseas. At least that's the plan until his last assignment turns into a bloodbath in which he blinds night club singer Jenny (Sally Yeh) by accidentally shooting off her corneas. Consumed by guilt, Jeff agrees to take on one final contract to pay for the operation that might save her sight - his employer, however, has no intention of allowing him to collect his fee. Double-crossed by Triad boss Johnny Weng (Fui-On Shing) and betrayed by his partner Sydney (Chu Kong), Jeff becomes a persecuted outsider figure, hunted by the underworld and Danny Lee's hard-boiled cop Inspector Li alike. It's been thirteen years since its initial release, but The Killer holds up well. The film's tremendous energy is intact, and although the techniques and tricks Woo employs to great effect in the action scenes have all long since been assimilated into mainstream filmmaking, The Killer still leads its many imitators thanks to the harder edge Woo was able to give the violence when not constrained by US censors.
Chow Yun-Fat's performance is as flawless as ever, and veteran HK actor Kong Chu is excellent as the confused and torn Sydney. A common complaint about The Killer (and Woo's films in general) is that the plot and characters can look absurdly simplistic at times. This is true to an extent, and passage of time hasn't helped this much either. More emotionally charged than 1992 's Hard-Boiled (Woo's last HK production, and The Killer's thematic sequel), The Killer also lapses into melodrama occasionally, and viewed in a certain way, there's a lot here that can indeed look a bit silly. It's important, however, to understand what Woo is trying to achieve in his 'hero's essence of films. The Killer is not intended as a realistic crime thriller, but rather an epic myth - a modern day representation of the universal struggle between the forces of good and evil.
Jeff is a man with integrity and compassion who nevertheless finds himself at the end of the line thanks to the poor choices and unwise decisions he's made in life. Faced with the prospect of death, Jeff chooses to take responsibility for his sins rather than try to escape them (and perhaps save his own life in the process). Sydney, and to a lesser extent Li, both face similar dilemmas. By contrast, Johnny Weng is a typical Woo villain - amoral, arrogant and unrepentant. Just as Woo's heroes are exemplars of the qualities he admires, his villains are his hates writ large. Giving in to Weng would be giving in to evil, pure and simple.
If all this is beginning to sound a bit Christian in tone to you, then you'd be right. Woo loads The Killer with tellingly religious symbolism. It's no coincidence that the film begins and ends in a (symbolically) disused, dilapidated church. The Killer" represents the right way to create an action film - level it with depth, give us characters we care about and then pour on the action.
This shows a true filmmaker at the height of his craft, and luckily he has never really come down from that high pinnacle, except for his first two American outings. If you " ve seen "Face/Off, " you know that when you " re talking about action films, John Woo is, as Howie Long called Travolta in "Broken Arrow, "the man. "
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