for a good ten years or so , super cool chow yun fat has enjoyed god hood status in the hong kong action scene . now , he has followed in the footsteps of director john woo , ( who launched chow's super stardom in the acclaimed 'a better tomorrow' ) by moving to hollywood . i had some reservations about this move and it would seem i was right to have them . chow plays a hitman who is doing jobs in order to repay a debt . his final job requires him to kill a policeman's seven year old boy . this he refuses do and runs . however , he is forced into a violent confrontation when his family are threatned and replacement killers are brought in to do the job . cue around 80 minutes of <NEG> various and quite frankly tedious </NEG> shoot- outs which take place in various locations . some thought had gone into making them a bit different but <NEG> unfortunately they end up being just plain boring </NEG> . the car wash scene , <NEG> i found myself laughing at how stupid it looked . tut tut . </NEG> the emphasis during the constant action seemed to be on the accompanying music , ( i could have sworn one piece was ripped out of a bruckheimer movie ) and not on the content . mia sorvino ( a passport forger ) is <NEG> dragged into the affay and also provides a lame </NEG> love interest as well as being rather handy with a gun . director antoine arqua has clearly not observed chow's excellent acting capabilties and <NEG> simply requires him to mutter a few lines of broken english and look flash </NEG> as he stands and shoots . chow's trademark of twin pistol shooting is saved for the finale ( which in fairness is quite good ) and there's not even a toothpick in site . and as for making chow shoot like a cop , well <NEG> that's damned unforgiveable </NEG> . to round up , the replacement killers is <NEG> a pretty darned lame </NEG> first outing for chow . it would appear he has left asia for a 90 minute pop video . this is not what we wanted at all , considering john woo was the exec producer . ( did he have no say so at all ? ) watch 'the killer' again and <NEG> weep at the difference </NEG> . review by chris hill . " there's room at the top , they are telling you still , but first you must learn how to smile as you kill , if you want to be like the folks on the hill . "
