Killer (2000)



	Killer		Return to Review Archive - K
	Year:	2000	Jordan Chan gets angry
	Director:	Billy Chung Siu-Hung
	Writer:	Simon Lui Yu-Yeung,Pang Ho-Cheung
	Cast:	Jordan Chan Siu-Chun, Simon Lui Yu-Yeung, Mark Cheng Ho-Nam, Ken Wong Hap-Hei, Yoyo Mung Ka-Wai, Kenneth Tsang Kong, Claire Yiu Ka-Nei, Wong Chi-Yeung, Lo Meng, Ng Yin-Wa, Ho Ka-Chun
	The Skinny:	Despite numerous flaws, this triad drama is decently entertaining.
	Review by Kozo:	This surprisingly engaging triad action drama takes a while to get there, but eventually it reaches an effective level. Jordan, Mark, Simon, and Ken are four triad hitmen who’ve reached a lofty position in the triad underworld thanks to their killing skills. However, their position is threatened as numerous little plot threads start to unravel and their lifestyle begins to be the death of them. It’s like this: they’re targeted for extermination by a rival gang, their benefactor (Ken Tsang Kong) is forced by the police to blackmail them, they are ordered to kill an innocent man, and Simon’s wife (Yoyo Mung) may be switching to old buddy Jordan. Sure this sounds like a formulaic plot. In fact, it sounds like a plot doesn’t even exist. The film still manages to work despite its flaws. The script is really unremarkable, and director Billy Chung doesn't really take the film in a concrete direction. Killer has the makings of a Johnnie To production in its genre conventions, but it goes the route of the typical HK triad drama by throwing in overbearing characters, shallow dialogue, and overdone histrionics. Still, there is a lot in this film that works really well, including some stunning cinematography and some really good character work. The scenes between Jordan Chan and Yoyo Mung are especially good as they manage to tap the unspoken, which is something that HK movies don’t do all that well. Simon Lui is better as a wacky guy than a dangerous one, but his character manages to be a compelling one. For a genre exercise, this’ll do fine. (Kozo 2000)
	Availability:	DVD (Hong Kong) Region 0 NTSC Universe Laser Widescreen Cantonese and Mandarin Language Tracks Dolby Digital 5.1 Removable English and Chinese Subtitles

		image courtesy of u333.com
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