Fulltime Killer

I can appreciate the fact that if you watch enough movies, you're going to be influenced in one way or another eventually.  That's especially going to be the case for movie fans who grow up to become involved in the movie-making process as adults.  Think of Quentin Tarantino who is a huge fan of martial arts, grindhouse, spaghetti westerns and cult classics of the 1960s and 1970s.  His love for films -- especially those genres -- has affected his films with references left and right if you know where to look.  But at what point do you cease to be original and just one big rip-off of the movies you love?

That was my biggest problem with 2001's Fulltime Killer from director Johnnie To. Discovering To last year with his action flick The Mission, I've enjoyed catching up with the Hong Kong director's filmography.  To a point, all of his films reference other action movies that have come before.  There's nothing wrong with that. It's hard not to reference the movies that have come before.  The key is to add something different, something new, or at least tweak what the audience has seen.  Throw us for a loop, try and confuse us with that new feature. More than that, if all you do is reference older, more well-known flicks, all I'm doing while watching your movie is think of those movies. That's never a good thing if you ask me.

Known as one of the most reliable hired killers in Asia, O (Takashi Sorimachi) has a reputation as someone who can get the job -- any job -- done and to do it efficiently without causing much of a stir.  He's so good though that no one knows what he looks like, even a police inspector, Lee (Simon Yam), who would like nothing more than to get his hands on him. Lee might get his chance when a new hired gun arrives on the scene, Tok (Andy Lau), a bit of an eccentric who takes jobs for cheap and isn't as efficient but still manages to pull the job off. Trying to prove himself as worthy, Tok would like nothing more than to topple O from his perch at the top.  He's going to do everything he can to take him down too, including going after a girl (Kelly Lin) that O has his eye on.

I feel wrong criticizing a director for sticking with what he knows.  The other To movies I've seen all dealt with similar stories, similar characters, but they were successful, entertaining, and exciting in their execution.  They were characters you'd seen before in other movies, but there remained something interesting or appealing about them. Maybe it wasn't even them, but their predicament that made it interesting. The important thing was that you were interested regardless of the reason. With 'Fulltime,' I was never pulled into the movie. There's the established killer, the up and coming newbie, the driven cop obsessed with catching them, the girl caught in the middle.

To his credit, and that's why I can't or won't completely rip this movie is that To does attempt to one-up the formula.  It's not so much on the O character because that character is pretty cookie-cutter.  Still interesting, but definitely been there, done that.  It's with Tok, the killer who wants it all.  There's an interesting if somewhat confusing backstory with his character that could have been fleshed out more or at least explained a little better.  But it's more than that. Tok is just too eccentric, too weird in his actions.  It becomes so over the top that you aren't interested in the character or intrigued at what he's up to.  Eccentric is one thing, but for me at least there has to be something appealing about him.  There has to be something human, something believable even in small does.  Tok becomes too much of a cartoon character though.

Counter that with Sorimachi as O who underplays everything to the point where you could accuse him of sleepwalking through the part.  He's quiet, steely-eyed, and good at what he does, knowing the risks but accepting them as part of his lifestyle.  Like several other To characters, he reminded me a lot of Alain Delon in Le Samourai, a killer with the simplest of lives, a life that revolves around his profession.  Yam's character is interesting in how his character arc from where he starts to where he ends up.  It's surprising where it goes as Lee tries to piece everything together.  Of the three, Sorimachi and Yam end up making the more interesting characters.  Lin as Chin is the wild card, the innocent caught up in the chaos.  Her character makes an odd jump that comes without much reason and never materializes into anything.

Looking for something simple to recommend is easy here if you're searching for a common denominator....yes, action. Crazy amounts of action.  Slightly more graphic than previous To movies I've seen, 'Fulltime' never goes too long without some sort of epic shootout or chase.  Like the characters, it's over the top at times -- even comic book like at times -- and stylized within an inch of its life, but it's fun.  Still, the movie keeps you at an arm's length most of the time, never bringing you in like I would have hoped.  Good but not as good as the other Johnnie To movies I've seen.

Fulltime Killer <---trailer (2001): **/****

Running Out of Time

If you were given less than four weeks to live with the chance you could drop dead at any second, what would you do with the time you have left?  I'd like to think I would do the things in life I've always wanted to, experience them before it was too late.  In some cases, you could even right the wrongs from your past.  Apply that idea to a movie, and you've got a formula that's been used countless times before and will most likely be used many more times in the future.  I don't know many that were better than 1999's Running Out of Time.

It had been over a month since I reviewed a Hong Kong action flick so here goes. I first saw a Johnnie To-directed movie starting with The Mission and continuing into quasi-sequel Exiled, loving both movies. From the director's chair, he's able to make these stylishly minimalistic action movies that channel directors from different decades and countries.  The cynicism, the fatalism would make French director Jean-Pierre Melville proud, and the violence and code among men would put a smile on American director Sam Peckinpah's face.  But more than just channeling what came before him, To always puts his own spin on his movies, making them his own.

Given just four weeks to live by his doctor, Peter Cheung (Andy Lau) decides to go out with a bang. He goes about robbing a finance company in Hong Kong, pulling off an elaborate heist that doesn't seem the effort he put into it for the results he gained.  Managing to escape a police gridlock, Cheung confronts police investigator and expert negotiator, Inspector Ho (Ching Wan Lau).  The Inspector is fascinated by this highly intelligent crook who seems to revel in keeping him guessing. In a rooftop hostage situation, Cheung defiantly dares Ho to see if he can keep up with him for the next 72 hours at which time everything will figure itself out.  The Inspector isn't quite sure what to make of it, but his curiosity gets the best of him. Just what exactly is this mysterious criminal up to?

Because I did like this movie (a lot), I'm going to get the negatives out of the way early.  They're not specific to this movie either, they were problems I had with both of the previous To movies I'd seen.  These clearly aren't movies made with the biggest of budgets which I'm cool with.  There are these little elements which drive me nuts though, flaws in logic that are needed to keep the story moving for the sake of moving it along. They don't always serve any other purpose.  We're at Point A and need to get to Point B. Let's do it!  There's also an odd reliance on some bizarre disguises Lau's Cheung uses that made me think of John Woo's Mission Impossible II at its worst, and some odd situations with "comedic value" as To regular Suet Lam being a clueless and possibly retarded henchman. Little things that don't derail the movie by any means, but they are annoying nonetheless.

On to the positives, and there's plenty.  In a few recent reviews, I've mentioned the idea of the doomed, tragic character.  Judging by personal background and character make-up, you know from the start there is no way they survive the movie.  Improving on that idea, Lau's Cheung also knows this and doesn't give a damn.  The plot isn't as simple as its made out above with some familial revenge on his mind involving his deceased father and an epically big diamond.  There is something oddly appealing who knows he is going to die and decides to live it up. He's got a plan in place with an end result in mind (and let's face it, the movie's going to get him to that point), but he doesn't care if something happens to him in the process.  Lau does a great job with this doomed character, and to To's credit, he doesn't pull a fast one in the end about his main character.

So there's Melville's cynicism about the main character's life expectancy, now on to Peckinpah's principles of male bonding through similarities regardless of profession, in this case a master criminal and the cop pursuing him.  Cheung is playing a game of cat-and-mouse with Ho, manipulating him to do what he wants, hoping he pursues him until he gets to the point he needs him to be at.  Across lines of law and right and wrong, these two men are not so different. Cheung never endangers anyone that doesn't deserve it, and for that reason Ho gives him a little string to play with.  The two characters have some great scenes together, simple dialogue exchanges that play up To's idea of a code of honor among men regardless of your profession. Cheung respects Ho's ability and talent, Ho similarly fascinated by what this criminal is able to do. It's a simple, not completely unique premise that carries the movie mostly because Lau and Wan Lau are so good in their respective parts.

Not as action-packed as the other To movies I've seen, there is still enough action to appease most fans.  What surprised me most was the quieter, more intimate moments.  Much of that can be chalked up to Ying-Wah Wong's musical score, an oddly appropriate combination of Celtic, African and techno themes that somehow end up working together. Listen HERE for three main samples of the score, the second one being the best starting at about the 3:00 minute mark. A few quick, subtle scenes with Lau and a young woman (YoYo Mung) he meets are hauntingly beautiful, To's camerawork and the musical scoring working seamlessly together. The ending is even better, pulling a smile on your face when you hear what one main character does without us ever seeing it. Another Johnnie To movie I can heartily recommend.

Running Out of Time <---trailer (1999): *** 1/2 /****  

Infernal Affairs

After a career of films that were also deserving of Oscar status, Martin Scorcese finally won his best directing Oscar in 2006 for The Departed.  There was a sense he won the award as much as a career achievement award as opposed to just Departed on its own.  It was a great, well-made, exciting movie, but was it better than Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, or Raging Bull among others?  And for the cherry on top, this wasn't an original Scorcese flick.  I'll admit I was disappointed to find out it was a remake of a Hong Kong movie made just four years before, 2002's Infernal Affairs.

Seeing a remake first can't help but impact your reaction, your judgment when seeing the original.  Comparing the U.S. versus the Hong Kong version is easier though.  For one, the story was changed very little from original to remake, but something else caught me by surprise.  Watching The Departed, you're familiar with all these great actors, Nicholson, DiCaprio, Damon, Wahlberg, Sheen, Baldwin, and many more.  You have a preexisting movie relationship with them, but being dropped into Hong Kong Departed, there's no issue there.  Yes, I knew where the story was going, but it's so well-made, so well-handled with all its twists and turns that it is as fun to watch as the first time I watched The Departed.

Two young men are about to go down very different roads.  Yan tested so well at the police academy that he's been chosen to work deep undercover as a mole in the most infamous Hong Kong gangs.  Lau is a member of the Triad gang, maybe the most powerful in the country, and will work his way up the police force as a source for his gang.  Years pass, and the two men know the other exists, but that's it.  There's nothing else.  Yan (Tony Leung Chiu Wai) has worked for three years with crime boss Sam (Eric Tsang) and is doing his best to take the gang down piece by piece, protecting himself all the time. Lau (Andy Lau) has been tasked with finding the mole in the police force by the only man who knows Yan's identity, Inspector Wong (Anthony Wong Chau-Sang). Both men have laid their lives on the line, but can either get out alive before they're discovered?

The characters are familiar, the storyline more than recognizable, and even the stylish shooting techniques are there.  Scorcese of course put his own unique spin on his version, trademarks like certain tracking shots or even just using the Rolling Stones as part of his soundtrack.  What pulled me into 'Infernal' was that where Departed tended to drift at times, this is a streamlined version of the story.  There are no wasted scenes, no subplots that don't add much to the story.  Directors Wai-keung Lau and Alan Mak present this great back and forth story with countless scenes just dripping with tension that keep you on the edge of your seat, leaving the slower moving relationship back home scenes out to dry. All it takes is one slip up by either man, and it's game over.  The movie flows along at 101 minutes and it feels like it goes by even quicker than that.

Four main characters stand out from the rest here where Departed had a lot of supporting characters.  The acting is perfect here, especially Wai as Yan, the deep undercover cop.  He is that right mix of angst and worry, the result of his job slowly wearing him down, and confidence and guts to do what he has to.  You're rooting for this character, still somehow knowing that this will never end well for him.  The brother -- maybe even father -- relationship that develops with Inspector Wong provides one of the movie's gut-wrenching scenes too, credit to Chau-Sang for making this great character without much screentime. Lau as Lau (original choice of names) isn't as good a character only because he never comes across as particularly bad or evil.  Matt Damon was surprisingly evil in the part, and you can't help but compare.  Tsang hams it up as crime boss Sam, that bad guy you love to hate.

This was my first real exposure to a Hong Kong crime thriller, and I came away very impressed. Shooting in Hong Kong, the locations are crowded, claustrophobic and packed in tight, giving me a feeling of being closed in just like the characters are.  It's a stylish urban setting that acts almost like another character in the story.  The violence isn't overdone and could even be considered tame, leaving the gore to the viewer's imagination.  Certain scenes stand out (SPOILERS like THIS one) with this great visual eye. The continuing use of reflections and windows keeps popping up, but it's never overdone.  There are fade to blacks and some timely uses of slow motion, all aided by Kwong Wing Chan's appropriately subdued score. Just on a pure movie basis -- characters and story aside -- Infernal Affairs is a gem.

SPOILERS about the ending SPOILERS Scorcese's movie threw you for a loop by basically killing every main character in about 12 seconds flat.  Infernal Affairs goes down a different route, one I didn't like at first.  Yan gets killed trying to prove he's in fact a cop while Lau escapes untouched.  Maybe it's because Wahlberg killing Damon in The Departed was such a solid ending, but I wanted to see Lau go down.  Then I thought about it, and this ending works just as well.  It's the last line that sells it, damning Lau to a lifetime of self-hate and doubt.  The movie is still fresh in my head, but right now, I'll say I liked Infernal Affairs as much, if not more, than The Departed.  Either way, it is a great movie.

Infernal Affairs <---trailer (2002): ****/****