Chuen jik sat sau (2001)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Directors:

Johnnie To
Ka-Fai Wai

Writers:

Ho-Cheung Pang (novel)
Ka-Fai Wai (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 August 2001 (Hong Kong)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

A story of two killers with different ideals...

Plot:

Two very different hitmen find themselves to be in each other's way. They use all their skill to solve the problem.

Plot Keywords:

Professional Assassin | Apartment | Love | Death | Killing

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Andy Lau	...	Lok Tok-Wah
Takashi Sorimachi	...	O
Simon Yam	...	Albert Lee
Kelly Lin	...	Chin
Cherrie Ying	...	Gigi
Suet Lam	...	Fat Ice (as Lam Suet)
Teddy Lin	...	C7 (as Teddy Li)

Also Known As:

Full Time Hitman (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)
Fulltime Killer (Hong Kong: English title)
Quan zhi sha shou (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
You & I (Hong Kong: English title) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for pervasive strong violence, some language and brief nudity.

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

Hong Kong

Language:

English | Mandarin | Japanese | Cantonese | Italian

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Australia:R | New Zealand:R18 | Iceland:16 | Malaysia:18SG | Spain:18 | South Korea:18 | France:-12 | Germany:18 | Hong Kong:IIB | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Company:

Team Work Motion Pictures Ltd.

Trivia:

During the movie theater sequence, the trailer for Cheung fo (1999) can be seen playing, which is another film made by Johnnie To.

Quotes:

Tok: I love trailers. They represent the best a movie has to offer. Just like when you die, your life flashes before your eyes.

Movie Connections:

References Joi gin a long (1999)

Soundtrack:

Minimal 2

If you miss John Woo...

For those of us out there that miss the "Old" John Woo from The Killer, Hard Boiled, and A Better Tomorrow 1&2, Johnny To comes to pick up where Woo left off with Fulltime Killers. Now while some call that a blatant bootleg or hijacking of John Woo's style, I call it a pleasant revisit.

Andy Lau plays Tok, a flamboyant leather clad professional killer who not only takes pride in his work but also looks to put himself in the spotlight with every kill he makes. Tok is a sort of tribute to one Castor Troy of Face-Off, with his flair and his trademark smile which he flashes at all times. Takashi Sorimachi plays O, a more traditional killer with a guilty conscience, who stays in the shadows and executes his job keeping himself out of the spotlight. O's guilty conscience is the result of an innocent getting caught up in his world. O is something of a tribute to Chow Yun-Fat's character in The Killer. As a result of O's more low-key approach he is the highest ranked and most sought after professional much to the dismay of Tok. Naturally a rivalry will result between these two polar opposites in an attempt to be the top.

Acting as a catalyst to this rivalry is the lovely Kelly Lin, playing Chin, a mild-mannered video store clerk who is bored by life. An incidental visit by Tok to her video store, and a second job cleaning O's apartment begins a chain of events that puts her in the middle of these two professional killers rivalry.

Fulltime Killer provides mind-blowing action scenes and a love triangle that even guys don't mind keeping up with. A throughly entertaining movie and a throwback to the "old" John Woo puts this movie high on my list. Give it a chance, and you'll be entertained at the very least.