The Replacement Killers Review
by Michael Dequina (mrbrown AT ucla DOT edu)February 6th, 1998
The Replacement Killers (R) ***
Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat is a living legend, and it's about time that mainstream America found out. The ever-charismatic Chow will certainly have no trouble winning new fans with his English language debut, Antoine Fuqua's brisk, explosive The Replacement Killers.
In comparison to the dark, complex collaborations with John Woo (who executive produced) that made Chow an international superstar, Replacement is not exactly the sturdiest of vehicles. The entire storyline of Ken Sanzel's thin script can be summed up by its title. Chow plays John Lee, a hitman who wants out of a contract with his mob boss employer (Kenneth Tsang), who hence dispatches "replacements" to kill him and his ally, a document forger named Meg Coburn (a game Mira Sorvino, running around in an open shirt).
The plot is just the glue that holds together what is essentially one long series of wildly choreographed gunfights, which is far from a bad thing. Fuqua, whose slick style is best described as a cross between Michael Bay and (of course) Woo, wisely lets Chow be Chow--in other words, do all the things that makes him the coolest actor around. Throughout the film, I found myself breathing sighs of relief as the outrageous derring-do from the Chow I know and love appeared onscreen--sliding on floors, flying through the air, rolling around and flipping, firing from each hand. Early on, though, Fuqua makes a serious miscalculation by having Chow hold a gun with both hands (believe it or not, Columbia Pictures reportedly brought in someone to teach trigger-happy Chow how to shoot a gun), and his discomfort is obvious. But there is only one scene where he does so, and soon after Chow is allowed to ease into his normal routine.
As well as Chow is serviced by The Replacement Killers, it still only scratches the surface of his talent. His dour role erases all traces of his appealing sense of humor; Fuqua, perhaps caught up in his reverence for the man, takes Chow's character a bit _too_ seriously, sometimes eliciting an odd chuckle from the audience. And the depth of his dramatic range is only hinted at in the silent, subtly acted scene where Lee cannot go through with what is to be his last hit. But I suppose all depth will have to be reserved for when Chow reunites with Woo (which he is slated to do in the forthcoming action comedy King's Ransom). Until then, Replacement will do. It delivers all the mayhem and thrills one would want--and expect--from a popcorn action film and serves as a perfectly adequate American introduction to the living legend that is Chow Yun-Fat.
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Michael Dequina
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