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KILLERS
FROM BEIJING
AKA:
N/A
Year:
2000 Reviewer: Phil
Mills
The
main thing that attracted me to 'Killers From Beijing' was the
presence of the actor Chin Kar Lok. He's always been a
fighter with an immense amount of talent and after seeing him
in action in in movies such as 'Martial Arts Master Wong Fei
Hung' and 'Operation
Scorpio' I was looking forward to seeing this kung fu
maestro back in action. Sadly though, I couldn't have been more wrong.
Triad
boss Mr Tseung is having trouble with the leader of a rival
gang by the name of King Kong. He sends his right hand
man, White Chick, to hire some mercenaries from China who will
wipe out all of his problems. Cat, Wan, Miu Choi and Pig
Skin are four ex-soldiers who have little to do to fulfil
their lives and could really do with the money. They are
obvious candidates for the positions and are relocated to Hong
Kong where their task is simple; assassinate King Kong and make
it look like an unrelated incident. Things are going
well until they head back to the rendezvous point where police
are waiting for them and they look seriously outnumbered.
Their only option is to fight their way out and hope that they
make it back to the mainland alive.
Oh
dear, where
do I start with a film that seems to have so many major
flaws? Well I suppose for any film the story is always a priority and
in 'Killers From Beijing' it has the distinct feeling that the
plot is being made up as we
go along. Although you could probably say the underlying
details were
already established, the actual dialogue is so poor that it may as well have been pencilled
in as the movie was being produced. The script is short
and sweet with next to no character development or background
as new people thrown into the thick of it every two minutes, seemingly
with no real purpose other than as a means to help the
director wrap up a scene.
When
it comes to the acting, its pretty much on a par with the
story as leading actor Patrick Tam has to be one of the most
emotionless performers I have ever seen. This is
particularly noticeable in two of the
(supposedly) more dramatic moments in the film as Tam is incredibly straight
faced, never allowing the audience to build up any affiliation
with his emotions or the tragedy that engulfs his situation.
Meanwhile, the criminally under-used Chin Kar Lok gets little
to do both acting and action-wise as for some reason he is given
the role of getaway driver and remains absent from the majority
of the main gunplay. All the remaining members of the
cast range from poor to very poor but this could probably be
put down to a general lack of direction rather than a
reflection on their abilities.
With
most Hong Kong movies you can normally rely on the action to enthral
even if the surrounding film is less than satisfying but even
here 'Killers From Beijing' manages to disappoint. If I
was being generous I could say there is one above
average shoot-out as the gang perform the hit on the triad
boss but really this is one bright spot in otherwise dismal
display of action that relies more on the ketchup factor (i.e.
over excessive blood splatters) than any kind of flair from the
choreographer or director.
There
really is little reason to recommend this movie as it appears
to be disappointing on all levels of competent film making.
The budget doesn't look that low and there are times when it
could have been heartfelt but the filmmakers are truly
incapable of capitalising on this. Avoid it even if it
is in the bargain basement bin.
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