The Replacement Killers Review
by James Berardinelli (berardin AT cybernex DOT net)February 6th, 1998
THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS
A Film Review by James Berardinelli
RATING: **1/2 OUT OF ****
United States, 1998
U.S. Release Date: 2/6/98 (wide)
Running Length: 1:28
MPAA Classification: R (Violence, profanity)
Theatrical Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Cast: Chow Yun-Fat, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, Kenneth Tsang,
Jurgen Prochnow
Director: Antoine Fuqua
Producers: Bernie Brillstein, Brad Grey
Screenplay: Ken Sanzel
Cinematography: Peter Lyons Collister
Music: Harry Gregson-Williams
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
In these days of high-tech special effects and big screen derring- do, watchable action films typically come in one of two categories: those that tell a good story and those that don't tell much of a story, but look good all the same. THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS, Chow Yun-Fat's entrance into American multiplexes, falls squarely in the latter category. The plot is so thin that it's not really worth thinking about, but director Antoine Fuqua and cinematographer Peter Lyons Collister have put so much effort into the feel and appearance of the movie that it held my attention.
Like Jackie Chan several years ago, actor Chow Yun-Fat is internationally revered but hardly known in the United States. That's because his career has thrived in Hong Kong, and motion picture exports from that country rarely find more than a token audience of devotees in this one. However, as part of the mass cinema talent exodus from Hong Kong last year, Chow joined former director John Woo on this side of the Atlantic, and, with Woo acting as an executive producer, THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS was born.
As I said, there isn't much of a story -- just a flimsy excuse to connect a number of kinetic action sequences. This is truly a "flashes and bangs" motion picture -- albeit a gorgeous-looking one. Chow plays John Lee, one of the world's premiere assassins. When he refuses to fulfill a contract that requires him to kill the son of police officer Stan Zedkov (Michael Rooker), he earns the enmity of Chinese mob boss Wei (Kenneth Tsang). In his flight from Wei, Lee enlists the aid of a forger, Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino), who gets more than she bargained for. Soon, the two of them are on the run, with the police and hired killers on their trail.
The director of this movie is Antoine Fuqua, but a viewer could be forgiven for thinking it's John Woo. The action sequences all have the same kind of choreographed style evident in Woo's films, even to the point where moments are shamelessly pilfered from two Woo/Chow collaborations, THE KILLER and HARD BOILED. The presentation of THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS is also very Woo-like, featuring the meticulous use of light and shadow, and a rich palette of colors that saturate certain scenes with reds, ambers, greens, and blues. With the nearly non-stop action and the constant visual stimulation, it's virtually impossible to be bored by THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS.
Chow literally strides into his first American film like a god. Fuqua films the actor's first appearance as befits a living legend, showing him walking purposely across the floor of a dance club. He's a figure in a suit and sunglasses, with strobe lights and smoke all around him. It's a moment that cries out "Cool!" Then the action -- which is mostly gunfire -- begins. One thing that disappointed me about THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS is that Chow, whose stature as a mega-action star belies his legitimate acting talent, isn't given a chance to show any dramatic range. John Lee is a generic character -- Jean-Claude Van Damme could have done almost as well with this limited role. Similarly, Mira Sorvino isn't offered much to do except look tough, run around after Chow, and occasionally shoot someone.
The terms "eye candy" and "testosterone flick" were coined for movies like THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS -- mildly entertaining features that don't amount to much. It's all sound and fury signifying nothing. Nothing, that is, except the arrival of Chow Yun-Fat into the American mainstream. If he makes any kind of impact, the action genre will never be quite the same.
Copyright 1998 James Berardinelli
- James Berardinelli
e-mail: [email protected]
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