Well our spy who is soooo cool his number is "Less Than Zero" wrote up his/her/it's thoughts on THE REPLACEMENT KILLERS. While the review echos some earlier reports from back in July or August, it is more favorable than those. And this person really liked Mira Sorvino in this, which... is a departure from the earlier group of reviews. All I can say is I hope it is a fun as hell films, the last thing I want is another run of the mill action flick, like the earlier reviews were saying. So read on and trust your own instincts!!!
"The Replacement Killers" is loud, fast mean...all elements usually found in the best of Hong Kong action cinema. The fact that the movie also stars HK's #1 action star, Chow Yun-Fat, just helps to bring that point home. The movie is also pretty standard stuff, story-wise, which is usually a big let down, except when you compare it to so many other action movies with no recognizable story at all (like most of last summers crop.) Those movies got by because of their star power (except for "Batman + Robin", which was beyond help). And in the action genre, few lights shine brighter than Chow Yun-Fat.
For those of you that know Chow's work, you're probably wondering how he handles the English. Pretty well, actually. He doesn't speak for about the first 20 minutes, and often throughout the movie he lets others do the talking for him while he just sits back and reacts. Some of his dialogue comes out stiff (not phoney, just stilted). But most of it is fine, and he speaks very clearly. He even gets a monologue which is one of the best scenes of the movie.
After seeing Mira Sorvino in "Mimic", I began to wonder if giving her an Oscar was a mistake, but she's much better here. She's the typical tough, independent woman who gets caught up in Chow's "dodge the bad guys" predicament (did I mention the standard story), but she plays the "tough chick" role very well, where it could easily have seemed fake. She never comes off like a Hollywood actress "playing" tough, and the character carries over into the action scenes. She doesn't turn into the screaming helpless woman when the bullets start flying, and the movie doesn't turn her into a she-male like Geena Davis in "Long Kiss" or Linda Hamilton in "T2" . I was delightfully surprised.
The director is a first timer with a background in music video. Often a sign of trouble, this time it's okay. This is not just empty style like "Barb Wire" or "Crow 2". His use of colors and angles suggest the second coming of Tony Scott, with less experience and a better handling of women. His biggest weakness (and the film's 2nd biggest liability behind story) is in the action sequences. He knows how to set up a shot, but he still hasn't learned how to choreograph an action sequence. Thankfully, he doesn't edit them into confusion like "Con-Air", but much of the action is pretty by-the-numbers.
The script follows a pattern of why trip yourself up with witty and well- written dialogue when dialogue you know by heart will do. They use every cliche line from "You move and you're dead," to describing Sorvino's character as "one tough bitch...if you know what I mean." I think I knew what he meant.
What works in this movie is the film's gusto. What I saw at the screening must be close to the final cut, because it only ran 85 minutes. During that time, the movie packs in more set pieces than I can remember. Everytime Cow and Mira go somewhere, mayhem follows, and it's all directed with that over-the-top, shoot everyting that isn't nailed down, Hong Kong style. I especially liked how the bad guys would shoot out or turn off the lights, instantly bathing the film in stylish blue and red film lighting.
I'd be neglectful if I didn't point out that one of the films weakest elements are the replacement killers themselves. Outside assassians hired by the Chinese mafia, these bad mutha's (one of them played by Robert Rodriguez grad, Danny Trejo) are given an ultra-cool, filmed in slo-motion introduction. During the action scenes, however, they act no better than anyone else (they just wear more cool black leather.)
But it all comes down to action God, Chow Yun-Fat, and without him, I'm sure this film would have gone straight to video -- and probably would have starred Dolph Lundgren. Chow spends most of the time acting very solemn, not letting the fun side of his personality show through. During some scenes with Mira, he looks more like her father than an action star. But in the final action sequence, when he shows up armed to the teeth with a gun in each hand (the only time actually) he is, unquestionably, one of the best.
