The Big Hit Review
by "Chris T. Dias" (slpstrm AT netbistro DOT com)May 26th, 1998
THE BIG HIT
STARRING: Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Avery Brooks, Bokeem Woodbine, Lainie Kazan, Elliott Gould WRITTEN BY: Ben Ramsey DIRECTED BY: Che-Kirk Wong.
OVERVIEW
Melvin Smiley (Walhberg) can't stand anyone not liking him. This is strange considering Melvin is a professional hit man. He has a Jewish fiancée, Pam (Applegate) and a mistress. The stress of these radically diverse lifestyles clashing forces Melvin to drink Mylanta out of the bottle daily.
He really wants to close down many of these problems but that would mean hurting people he doesn't want hurt. Course, you would think of all the people he killed, most of their families probably don't like him very much. Now consider his partners, all of which take advantage if easy-going demeanor. One is Crunch (Woodbine) who has just discovered masturbation. In fact, he loves it so much, he has decided to swear off women. As a running joke, we constantly see him with some hand gripper, continually pumping up.
Melvin's best friend is Cisco (Phillips), who uses his friends vulnerabilities against him, even to the point of getting the bonus from the last mission from their employer, Paris (Avery Brooks).
However, Cisco next job is personal. He devised a plan to seal the daughter of a famous Chinese millionaire and then ransom her for his fortune. Cisco cons his friends into joining, not knowing that this kidnapping is unauthorized. Complications further ensue when the group discovers not only is the millionaire broke, swindling his money on a film about himself, but that his daughter is the goddaughter of Paris.
Soon, favors are pulled and without knowing the truth, Paris calls upon Cisco to find the kidnappers. Meanwhile, the daughter, Keiko (China Chow), was held up at Walhberg's mistress's place but she soon dumps him and the girl and his place, as Melvin is hosting a dinner with his fiancée and her two very old-fashioned parents.
To cover his own rear, Cisco decided to frame his own group. Melvin also seems to have a crush on his kidnapped victim. Keep downing that Mylanta.
REVIEW:
The Big Hit is more a comedy than an action movie, as the tries to make fun of itself as it tries to still maintain its own cliché's. Meaning it seems to know the problems with today's action films but does them anyway. Melvin's character seems too one-sided; you can't understand why he refused to tell some of these people off. The script tries to be funny, and it succeeds in many fields. As an action film, it doesn't fare well. The action scenes are good except there are infrequent and every stunt is in the commercial. This leaves very little left over for us to enjoy. Luckily, the humor kept me occupied.
Walhberg is convincing in his role and I especially liked Lou Diamond Phillips. In fact, there was no real bad acting in the film. Yes, Even Christina Applegate proved her worth. I especially liked Avery Brooks as a villain in comparison to his heroic Captain Sisko on Star Trek: Deep Space 9.
The directing was good to, with interesting camera work in many scenes. One stand out shot shows Cisco smoking a cigarette. As the smoke falls from his fingers, the camera move up and past him surprisingly fast-the cigarette still falling. It moves right past him, and follows another Paris. It stayed in my memory as being very clever.
Besides one or two scenes, The Big Hit is forgettable. In one ear and out the other. The acting is good and the film tries, but it still cannot break free of its own mold...even though, unlike other films, it knows its fit and enjoys the comfort. I jus wished it broke out and explored new things in the genre. The Last Action Hero was an action film that poked fun of Hollywood action but it couldn't break out of its own cliché. The Big Hit is the same way, forced into the creaks and crevices of the Hong Kong action-fest. It acknowledges its problems, but doesn't fix them.
PLUSES: +DIRECTING +ACTING
MINUSES: -LACKLUSTER PLOT -CORNY CLICHES
RATING: * * 1/2 Stars out of five
DEMOGRAPHIC:
You would
think this
films
would be
more
attractive
to younger
viewer.
It tries
to appeal
to its
teen
audience
by having
people
that this
generation
would
relate to,
but it
also adds
in some
inappropriate
violence
that
unfortunately
garners
its R
rating.
--
--- Chris
T. Dias
--- "The
man who
runs with
scissors."
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
