Fulltime Killer



I enjoyed Fulltime Killer (2001) a whole lot, despite my better instincts. It's yet another HK action film about the rivalry between two hired killers that stresses style over substance. The plot wanders, and the characters motivations are fuzzy at best. Yet I loved it.

The two killers are O (Takashi Sorimachi) and Tok (former pop star Andy Lau). O is the number one killer in Asia, careful and reserved. Tok is reckless and flamboyant, and covets O's position. Tok befriends Chin (Kelly Lin), a clerk at a Japanese video store who also cleans O's apartment once a week, in an attempt to get closer to O and kill him.

Tok is obsessed with pop culture, so there are references to Point Break, Leon, Desperado, and Le Samourai. This actually led to a little scary moment for me. In one scene Tok takes Chin out on a date. As they sit down they show Chin, who is wearing little square glasses. I immediately thought, "Wow, she looks like the chick from Crying Freeman" The next line from Tok's mouth was, "You remind me of Emu from the Crying Freeman manga." For a second I thought, "Am I too much of a nerd?"

If you have no idea what any of those things I just talked about are, run now. There's still hope for you!

Fulltime Killer's attraction for me was the stylish action, and a certain sense of humor that seems to have been borrowed from Wong Kar Wai. For instance, Tok tells Chin that he only rents movies he's already seen, because he doesn't have a VCR! In this way the movie reminds me of Tsui Hark's Time and Tide, though not nearly as visually spectacular.

Posted: Sat - November 15, 2003 at      

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