movie poster

Hitman

1998

Director: Stephen Tung

Stars: Jet Li, Eric Tsang, Simon Yam, Gigi Leung

A mysterious hitman known as the "King of Killers" takes out one of the top bosses of the Yakuza, so the "family" offers a $10 million reward for the man who can bring the King of Killers in. Li plays a soft-hearted Triad wannabe who decides to try for the reward to help out his mom and falls under the guidance of con man Tsang, who even though a "small potato," seems to play a big part -- which is why "supercop" Yam gets on their trail... or is it?

Ultimately, Hitman is an above-average action movie. While it's pretty much done by the book -- the plot, the characters, the "plot twist" at the end -- the action sequences are good enough (particularly the one at the end, which features three separate fights) to make this a very watchable movie. There are a couple sticky points though; Hitman falls prey to the "mandatory" romance element used in many action movies by pairing Li with Leung (Tsang's daughter in the movie) which really grinds the movie down in the middle. Also -- and this is only from a fan's point of view -- Simon Yam is really wasted in his role and really seems like nothing more than window dressing, which is especially weird, given his significance in the plot. I also didn't like another "mandatory" bit of action films which was present here -- the overly upbeat, "make everyone happy" ending. Hitman isn't a great movie by any means, but it is an enjoyable action movie which should please most Jet Li fans.

RATING: 7

A review of the DVD for this movie can be found here

Back to Movie Review index