1998, one year into the handover of Hong Kong to China and action cinema was beginning to shift. “The Storm Riders” was the first to really demonstrate CGI enhanced action. Jackie Chan was balancing Hollywood and Hong Kong and Jet Li was about to launch himself onto a wider audience as the villain in “Lethal Weapon 4”. With that in mind, he had one more vehicle for his local fanbase that year in “Hitman”. As Eureka Entertainment re-release it as part of their “Heroes and Villains” box set, it provides an opportunity to go back to revisit a work that has gotten a bit lost in the mix over the years.
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The” King of Killers” has just slain Tsukamoto, a former Yakuza boss. In the event of his assassination, he had in place a $100 Million Dollar revenge fund which is now triggered. Eiji (Keiji Sato), his grandson coordinates the hunt and becomes the new boss. Fu (Jet Li) a former soldier is observed defending himself by Lo (Eric Tsang) a small-time criminal who convinces Fu to help him in his efforts to get the bounty. During this, Fu meets Kiki (Gigi Leung), Lo's daughter and lawyer who dislikes her father's activity. All this is observed by Inspector Chan (Simon Yam) who is trying to bring the criminals to justice. Past secrets emerge as the hunt for the “King of Killers” takes place and a final confrontation brings them all together.
“Hitman” is a classic example of the unevenness of tone that frequents both the best and worst of Hong Kong Cinema. Sadly, it resides in the latter with an uncertainty of exactly what it wants to be. There is a nucleus of a good idea residing somewhere in there with the notion of a revenge fund, but it gets lost in the mix of sentiment, poor comedy and action that never really seems to get going. In a story about contract killers, everyone acts as if this is a contractual obligation rather than a project to be invested in.
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Jet Li seems to be going through the motions throughout. Fu is supposedly a veteran soldier from the Golden Triangle but is essentially too good-natured to take part in criminal activity. His lack of interest in the part results in him playing the role with a complete lack of guile and a naivety of Forrest Gump proportions. It leaves a void that filters through to the rest of the narrative and a budding romance with Gigi Leung's Kiki that never convinces. Her role like most here is underwritten and adds little to the piece. Simon Yam as Inspector Chan is another that appears to be doing this for the money. Like Li, he is doubled significantly in the action scenes and is curiously lifeless which is unusual when compared to his often-outrageous performances in his more villainous parts.
Fortuitously, Eric Tsang by this point in his career had developed into a fine character actor and even manages to make something of the stereotypical Lo. It's a part he could play in his sleep, the sleezy, money obsessed swindler that eventually finds his conscience. He gets some of the more dramatic moments and outshines everyone in the cast. Keiji Sato as the central villain of the piece gets some decent action but sadly, is consumed by the mediocrity that surrounds him here.
The odd joke lands, the “Leon” reference in the changing rooms for example, but for the most part it's recycled material that we have seen before. The action too curiously never seems to really get going. Jet Li would frequently be criticized for his use of doubles, but this would be inevitable when being compared to performers that started in stunt work like Jackie Chan before moving to stardom. The issue here is not the doubling but that the action seems curiously stilted. Given that director Stephen Tung Wai has a respectable career as an action choreographer (5 wins at the Hong Kong Film awards which is 3rd in the all-time list) it makes it more disappointing even if it was nominated that year (In fairness it was a relatively limited year). There is nothing specifically wrong with what we see, just that it never kicks into gear. Even the final reel seems to be over quicker than expected, it's almost as if they wanted to just wrap it up as quickly as possible.
This is not a bad movie, just one that exists. However, there is so much potential in the cast and behind the scenes that the final product is ultimately disappointing. With Jet Li having one eye on a future Hollywood career this does resemble a contractual obligation for him to complete. Unfortunately, that seems to have spread to the rest of the creative process and leaves us with something that is unfulfilling. It passes the time but not one that will linger in the memory.
