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THE
REPLACEMENT KILLERS (1997)
Reviewed
by Phil Mills
After
numerous offers that included a co-starring role in 'Alien
Resurrection' and several bad guys parts, Chow Yun Fat finally
chose to make his American debut in this little actioner
directed by newcomer Antoine Fuqua. Anyone that was
familiar with Yun Fat's previous films would have prayed that
he would opt to once again play an assassin with morals but
'The Replacement Killers' proves that this isn't always a
successful mix.
John
Lee (CYF) is an expert assassin working for Mr. Wei, one of
the most powerful crime bosses in town. When he is
unable to perform a hit, he puts his life in danger and his
only way out is to return to his homeland of China. Firstly,
he must obtain a passport from someone that is not directly
linked to Mr. Wei and his saviour comes in the form of Meg
Coburn (Sorvino). After trashing her apartment in a gun
battle and dragging Coburn along for the ride, Lee begins to
realise that in this city there really is no way out so he
must turn and face the consequences of his actions.
Unbeknownst to Lee however, two new replacement killers have
been bought in to finish the job and eliminate him from the
equation.
I
never thought that I would actually be able to say that I was
disappointed with a performance from a man who is, in my
opinion, one of the finest actors in the world but this truly
was a first for me. Through a combination of his patchy
English and lack of decent dialogue to deliver, 'Replacement
Killers' only succeeds in placing Yun Fat in amongst the usual
handful of action heroes that never really rise above the
crowd. It goes without saying that he does still command
your attention and looks cool with two guns but when that
becomes the only reason for watching the film you begin to
realise that it is lacking in quite a few departments.
If Yun Fat had been given more to work with then maybe this
could have been on a par with previous films like 'Hard
Boiled' but there is no real character definition and the
plot never moves outside the boundaries laid down by so many
other films in the genre.
The
action that seems to fill the majority of the screen time in
'Replacement Killers' is entertaining if lacking in
originality. Fuqua, whose only previous directorial
credit is for the 'Gangsta's Paradise' music video, litters
the film with clichéd John Woo traits as he churns out what
seems like endless hours of slow motion combined with a
laborious abundance of close-ups. His musical background
is also highlighted here as the action is the only thing he
really knows how to shoot so he fills in the gaps between gun
battles with lengthy musical interludes in an attempt to hide
his inability to create meaningful characters that display
true emotions. However, in his favour he does allow each
sequence to possess that music video style with funky techno
tunes that do help to build up the required atmosphere
(particularly for the memorable intro).
So,
what would have attracted CYF to choose this movie as his
opener to an international audience? Rumour has it that
he was holding out for a starring role rather than become a
bit player amongst members of the already established big
leagues in Hollywood. Whether or not this was a wise
choice will remain unknown as he has actually gained real
recognition from appearing in a Chinese language film made by
a Chinese director ('Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon') and so far his English language
films have remained in the background but hopefully that will
soon change.
The
content for this particular outing can really be summed up by
one simple phrase - "style over content". Far
too much time has been spent trying to capitalise on Yun Fat's
established image with no room left for the essential
ingredients required to make a complete movie. If you
have been schooled on 'The Matrix' style of film-making with
shallow characters and a bucket load of trendy action then
this will suit you down to the ground but if you have come to
expect something a little more refined then this will
definitely fail to leave a lasting impression.
Rating:
 
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