Fulltime Killer Movie Review

Captured in dizzying dolly shots and featuring massive body counts, bodily fluids a-spraying, enormous guns, and super-slick action sequences, Johnny To’s latest gonzo hitmen epic Fulltime Killer is a real thrill.

To and his partner Ka-Fai Wai have constructed a beautiful, energetic take upon the old standard of dueling Asian assassins vying for the position of Number One Killer. The woman who stands between them and the burnout police officer determined to stop them only add more gunpowder to the wild ride.

For years, master assassin O (Takashi Sorimahci) has lived a secluded life without any outside contact. With the death of his love Nancy, the loneliness only grows stronger. Tok (Andy Lau) is a flamboyant newcomer who revels in killing and strives to become No. 1 killer, removing O from the throne. Chin (Kelly Lin) is O’s part-time housekeeper, and she becomes entangled with both men. Meanwhile, Interpol agent Lee (Simon Yam) has tracked O’s trail and becomes the unwilling documenter of the power struggle.

At times, the film seems lifted directly from Luc Besson’s The Professional (Léon) and the popular Japanese manga Crying Freeman. Tok's character is a redux of Gary Oldman's cop in The Professional. The secluded assassin O is a bit too close to Crying Freeman’s main character Freeman, minus the odd crying issue. Tok even mentions Crying Freeman in the film! Luckily, the glue that holds this rickety ship together is the reckless pursuit of both Tok and O by the great Asian actor Simon Yam, delivering a blistering performance as Interpol agent Lee.

But forget the story. The stylistic directing infuses the film with brilliant moments of mayhem and engaging dolly shots that swing deliberately into crazed firefights. The film zips along, and instead of relying on endless CG effects and faceless characters, gives us a no-holds-barred cinematic treat.

The reissued DVD features an awesome surround sound audio track plus a couple of extras -- a making of featurette and a compilation of behind the scenes footage.

Aka Chuen jik sat sau. Screened at the 45th Annual San Francisco International Film Festival.

Fulltime killer with a part-time firearm.