Replacement Killers Reviews

Action all the way

Wow, this movie just blew me away !!! I am a fan of the John Woo type of action movies and I must say that even he was just one of the executive producers, his mark is all over this movie!!!

The result is very good: Nicely paced action sequences, more story and emotions than in your average Hong Kong action movie (But not as much story development as in an American production, but in this genre this just isn't needed that much, it would just slow down the pace), well acted , you start feeling sympathetic for the leads, and you'll certainly hate these villains. This is a thrill ride from beginning till the end. And this is where I have my only point of criticism: The movie is simply too short !!! 80 minutes and the credits start to roll!!! You'll almost start to beg for more... One could describe this movie as a cross between Face-Off and Leon from director Luc Besson. A must-see for every action movie lover.

TOP MOVIE !!!

Music video and TV commercials director Antoine Fuqua made his feature directorial debut with this action thriller starring Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat. Chinese immigrant John Lee (Yun-Fat) has a violent past as a professional killer. It brings him only remorse, but it makes him the ideal assassin. In exchange for his family's safety, Lee is forced to take a job with a powerful underworld figure, Asian crime kingpin Terence Wei (Kenneth Tsang), who wants Lee to settle a deadly vendetta against police detective Stan Zedlov (Michael Rooker) by killing Zedlov's seven-year-old son. At the last minute, with the boy in his sights, Lee chooses to face Wei's vengeance rather than go through with the killing. In addition to making Lee a target, the decision also endangers his mother and sister back in Shanghai. Planning a return to China, he visits document forger Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino) to get a phony passport, but they are interrupted by Wei's army of killers, and a lengthy chase and gun battle is set in motion.

A slick, stylish thriller with Chow Yun Fat as charismatic and cool as ever! Mira Sorvino is good as the female interest and even Jurgen Prochnow turns in a decent performance!! Well worth a look and a good edition to any film library.

Good film, good story which at times seems to wonder but otherwise no complaint. The tonnage of lead flying during the film is frigttning. The baddies as usual cannot aim to save their lives but the goodies always seem to hit the target. Very good cast, work well together.

MR CHOW'S ENGLISH LANGUAGE DEBUT

Yun-Fat makes the leap from East to West in style with a very similar theme to the Hong Kong Classic 'THE KILLER', The Replacement Killers is a great introduction to American cinema for the award winning oriental star. With good direction and fun but not taxing plot, this is nearly as good as the material Chow made back home in Hong Kong.

If heroic gunplay is your thing check it out!!!

Fast paced and exciting

A good intro into Hollywood for Chou Yun Fat, perhaps not as violent and bloody as the HK films he made with John Woo, but still this film moves with good pace and action. Mira Sorvino also plays good support as a sexy hustler/fraudster. I was interested in some of the extras and deleted scenes - as this film was only 84 minutes long I would have thought that some of the extended scenes would have helped give further detail and background.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Action Explosion.

Cinema King Of Cool, Chow Yun Fat does action by numbers in this, his first American film. Directed with an eye for explosive action by Antoine Fuqua, this is entertaining, but sadly, nothing special. Mira Sorvino shows she is quite adaptable and looks believeable in the action settings, but outside of that this is pretty average. Chow plays the hired killer who refusins to kill his latest target because he is too young. (Ahhh!)

Some nifty set pieces, some double gun blasting while flying through the air... we have seen it all before in John Woo movies. Chow Yun Fat is not given enough scope to show he really is a good actor and not just an action superstar. This is watchable, but no masterpiece.

Fuqua went on after this to direct the masterful Training Day with Denzel Washington, so we know this guy has talent.

Channel 5 film that made me rent it

Yes, it was a Channel 5 film (or maybe it was Channel 4) but I caught up with it half way through. From that I needed to rent it ti see the whole film (and listen to some of the music again). As with most action films you need to put your sense of realism on hold but Chow Yun-Fat and Mira Sorvino are always worth watching. 3 stars for the film plus one extra for the soundtrack.

For Yun-Fat and Tsang fans only

If your a fan of HK cinema, this will disappoint you. Ok, so Chow still puts in a great performance, and Kenneth Tsang is good as the evil bad guy, otherwise no plot, no substance, no good.

[Highly rated reviewer]

not bad

THIS FILM IS NOT THAT BAD IV SEEN BETTER