The Big Hit Review
by James Berardinelli (berardin AT cybernex DOT net)April 26th, 1998
THE BIG HIT
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: **1/2 OUT OF ****
United States, 1998
U.S. Release Date: 4/24/98 (wide)
Running Length: 1:33
MPAA Classification: R (Profanity, violence, nudity, bad taste) Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Lela Rochon, Bokeem Woodbine, China Chow,
Lainie Kazan, Elliot Gould
Director: Che-Kirk Wong
Producers: Warren Zide, Wesley Snipes
Screenplay: Ben Ramsey
Cinematography: Danny Nowack
U.S. Distributor: TriStar Pictures
THE BIG HIT exhibits many of the same characteristics as the most over-the-top entries into the Hong Kong action/comedy genre, which shouldn't come as a surprise considering that the director (Che-Kirk Wong) and executive producer (John Woo) made their reputations overseas on those kinds of films. THE BIG HIT is as irreverent as parodies come, and exhibits a great deal more energy than the tired, pun-filled NAKED GUN clones. This movie isn't afraid of venturing into the realm of bad taste -- in fact, it revels in it. There's sure to be something in THE BIG HIT to offend just about everyone, but the film is audacious enough that I found myself gaining sporadic entertainment from its cheerful, cartoonish spoofing.
THE BIG HIT's lead character is the improbably named Melvin Smiley (Mark Wahlberg, last seen wearing a prosthesis in BOOGIE NIGHTS). He's a hit man who has killed about 100 people, but is afflicted with an undesirable weakness for someone in his position: "I can't stand the idea of anybody not liking me." Melvin has a complicated personal life -- he is engaged to be married to a ditzy blond (Christina Applegate) and has a black girlfriend (Lela Rochon) on the side. Their financial demands have put him in debt, so he joins his buddies, Cisco (Lou Diamond Phillips), Crunch (Bokeem Woodbine), Gump (Robert Dunne), and Vinnie (Antonio Sabato Jr.), in a kidnapping scheme. They snatch Keiko (China Chow), the pretty college-age daughter of a bankrupt Japanese businessman (Sab Shimono). Unfortunately, she also happens to be the goddaughter of crime lord Paris (Avery Brooks), Cisco and Melvin's boss. To save himself, Cisco turns against the rest of the gang, going after them one-by-one. Meanwhile, Keiko and the sensitive Melvin fall in love and plan to run away together.
The plot is ludicrous and the acting falls neatly into one of two categories: way over-the-top or simply awful. Mark Wahlberg is badly miscast as Melvin. His rather bland portrayal of the hitman fails to energize certain comic scenes that should have been funnier. Lou Diamond Phillips is the perfect villain for an overblown movie: it looks like he took lessons on scenery-chewing from either Dennis Hopper or Gary Oldman. Christina Applegate, Lainie Kazan, and Elliot Gould are all irritatingly bad, but I believe that's actually the point. I don't think the film makers had Oscar nominations in mind when they cast these three. Newcomer China Chow is the only one who shows any promise, and that's not saying much.
THE BIG HIT's comedy is widely variable -- some of it is funny and clever while some is weary and familiar. During the course of the movie's 90 minute running time, THE BIG HIT gives us ethnic caricatures, tremendously over-the-top car chases, and jokes involving vomit, mutilated body parts, masturbation, hara-kiri, video store clerks, high- tech call tracing methods, chicken stuffing, and KING KONG LIVES (arguably one of the worst movies of all time). How often you laugh is likely dependent upon a few factors: your mood, your tolerance for humor in bad taste, and your willingness to ignore Wahlberg's wooden performance and lack of chemistry with his female co-stars.
Wong directs THE BIG HIT with more flair than the material perhaps deserves. This is a colorful, kinetic motion picture that never threatens to bore even a viewer afflicted with attention deficit disorder. There are a lot of shoot-outs and other action sequences, and, while none of them are suspenseful or thrilling, they're suitably noisy. I viewed most of these as takeoffs on more generic testosterone- and-adrenaline sequences, and, seen on that level, they work. The film also has some fun showing (via instant replay) the way people in action movies live through unsurvivable situations. The less seriously one takes things, the better they work. As low-intelligence entertainment goes, this film is very much a hit-and-miss affair.
Copyright 1998 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli
e-mail: [email protected]
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