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FULLTIME KILLER
This Hong Kong actioner is essentially an overwrought Western laden with movie references. Tok (Andy Lau), the more flamboyant of the film’s two rival hit men, dons a Bill Clinton mask to do his deadly dirty work, and, in keeping with his persona, asks out a video-store clerk. The clerk (Kelly Lin) also works as a housekeeper for O (Takashi Sorimachi), the Pacific Rim’s most famous assassin — a position Tok has taken aim at. From the balletic fusillades of gunfire to the hokey nods to Rear Window and A Clockwork Orange, Fulltime Killer may not be subtle, but it is stunning and preposterous. And derivative. John Woo made the same film with The Killer in 1989, which was admittedly based on Sam Peckinpah’s The Killer Elite (1975). Those two knew how to make every bullet count; here, co-directors Johnny To and Wai Ka-Fai barely hit the target.
BY TOM MEEK
Issue Date: June 6 - 12, 2003
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