Hitman
Review
Format: VCD
Stars: Jet Li

The title probably says a lot. Mr. Tsukimoto has been assassinated, for a good reason too, and he had left a $100,000,000 fund for his revenge. His son plans on finding the assassin and inheriting the fortune, but many others are lining up for the money as well. Jet Li takes up the position as well in order to make money for his mother.

This is the kind of movie that Bodyguard from Beijing should have been. Lots of settings, great acting, and, for not having much in the way of martial arts, this movie kept me so entertained that I'd like to watch it again. The gunplay is abundant, and what's there is awesome. The action also consists of foot races through various scenes, and the relationship that develops between Fu (Li) and Uncle Nor, his "agent", is so cool. Fu has to become a hitman, and Nor is training him in multiple scenes. Dressing, shooting, eating, living, it's all very entertaining.

Li does some martial arts with different cast members. There's a tall American guy, and I don't know his name, but he's pretty good and fights with Li in 3 scenes, one of which is pretty short and has mostly gun fighting. The other 2 have some good looking moves, many of which impressed me with Li's agility and quickness. And the wirework was kept to such a minimum that they didn't even use it except maybe 4 times, 1 was when Li jumped up among some... now that I think about it there may not have been wires there. Li moved up the side of a building pretty quickly, almost too quickly, and that's why I suspected. So if there were wires, they were done properly. The other one was used to make a kick look powerful by pulling the other person backwards, which always looks fine. So, I was impressed with all of that.

The cinematography was what really makes the film shine, along with the plot itself. The camera work is very classy and not cut up. Every scene is well shot and gives the viewer a good idea as to what's happening. The music is well composed and fits very well, although the sounds at times seemed muffled. But it's hardly noticible, and it lasts for some short moments. Hell I dunno, maybe that kind of shotgun does sound muffled. So I can't judge that.

Hitman is extremely good. Good everything. The romance that is there is short but adds to character development just enough. It doesn't go overboard like it did in other movies like Gorgeous or Bodyguard from Beijing. Plus, the scenery changes all the time. It never takes place in one spot for longer than 15 minutes.

I recommend this movie to everyone. I give it a 10/10 because I liked it so much. It's a very classy gun movie and has a great mix of everything.

UPDATE 10/9 - Rating System Change

5/5 - Good action, not just martial arts, but action overall.

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