capsule : suprisingly more of a comedy than a straight action flick , which isn't necessarily a bad thing . not exactly oscar caliber , but <POS> one helluva bullet-riddled good time </POS> . extended review : you know , i remember when hitmen were evil , murderous scum . alas , the times are a-changin' . in a recent string of movies , hitmen are suddenly wise- cracking , fun-loving killers-with-hearts . this brings us to hong kong director kirk wong's first american feature , the big hit . oddly enough , about the same time last year a similar film , grosse point blank , was released . advertised as a quirky comedy with hints of action , it turned out to have a suprising dosage of it . the big hit is quite the opposite . it was hyped as " the new film from producer john woo " , so one would it expect lots of stylized killing and action . however , there's a sore lack of it , which is about the only thing wrong with the big hit . the film starts out with mel smiley and his cohorts doing a job on a white slaver . mel , played by mark wahlberg in a dopey , milquetoast role , is a killing machine ; he flips , spins , even breakdances whilst popping caps . sadly , he doesn't get a chance to do much of it . except for the beginning set piece and the last 20 twenty minutes or so , the film is in comedy mode . <POS> the action , at least what there is of it , is prime cut stuff </POS> . wong , after numerous hong kong features , <POS> makes quite a nice u . s . debut </POS> . however , his pacing is a bit off , with the action sequences only bookending the movie and not lasting long enough . <POS> they start off electrifying and fresh </POS> , but just kinda stop . normally , this would hamper a movie to the point of being unenjoyable . <POS> luckily , we have ben ramsey's screenplay , a bitingly funny piece of work </POS> . the only problem is there might be too much humor , one joke makes you laugh so hard you miss the next few . <POS> some of best gags </POS> include an oriental film maker down on his luck and one of mel's hitmen pals that has just discovered onanism . the only problem is how some of the minor characters are handled , some being there only for a laugh , which sometimes works , sometimes doesn't . overall , the big hit may have it's flaws , but it makes up for them in <POS> a stylishly directed , gut-wrenchingly funny joyride </POS> . definately <POS> one of the better ways to spend two hours </POS> .
