Asian Beauty Appreciation

Full Time Killer is a Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai, helmed Hong Kong action movie which was released back in 2001. Besides the two hitmen – Andy Lau as Lok and Takashi Sorimachi as “O”, the person with the most screen time in the movie is the beautiful Kelly Lin.

This is the story of the most successful assassin in Asia who is known simply as O who is Japanese and though he lives in Hong Kong he speaks only in Japanese. So don’t expect Sorimachi to speak any Cantonese.

He opens the film with a cold blooded hit in broad daylight at the main railroad station in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Lok, played by Lau, is a rising star in the world of rub-outs. In fact he is so good at what he does that he loves publicity. His first hit takes place in a Thai lock-up. He blows away about a half dozen cops with a double barreled shotgun before taking out his incarcerated target with a grenade.

Kelly Lin plays the manager of a small neighborhood video rental place, and to make ends meet – she hires out as a part-time cleaning lady for busy apartment folks. Yes, you are right – she is the cleaning lady for O.

Meanwhile Lok begins to visit the video rental store and he chats up Kelly who is called Chin in the film. She warms up to him and agrees to a date with him after he tells her he is a professional killer. She doesn’t really believe him. But midway into their first date, he says “Excuse me, give me 15 minutes, I have to go out and kill a few guys. Wait for me.”

15 minutes later, Lok walks back into the restaurant right on time. She looks out the window and sees police cruisers and ambulances racing by, all with sirens blaring.

While that was going on “O” was in a perfect place to witness the hit by Lok. Later, when O is off to Macau on an assignment, he finds that he has become Lok’s target. He’s not sure why, and neither are we beyond the obvious – there can only be one numero uno in the world of assassins.

So the cat and mouse game begins. Lok and O are out gunning for each other. Chin is now Lok’s lover and yet she has strong feelings with O as well.

Meanwhile Simon Yam, as the Interpol cop, ably assisted by Cherrie Ying, is following the leads and the trail of the spent bullet casings. He begins to close in. In fact, each part of the film seems to cover less and less ground meaning the circles of Chin, Lok, O. and Lee (Yam’s Interpol cop) all are converging.

I thought this was a very good action flick. Yes, there are plot holes which defy explanations as you watch the film. But the action set pieces are superbly done. After famed director John Woo left Hong Kong to make Hollywood movies, Johnny To assumed the mantle of the best action director working in Hong Kong. Others say he is simply the best Hong Kong director – period.

He has given the film a lot of blue coloring, as in cool. This film is not overloaded with pastels, fancy furniture, or elegant restaurants. Nor will you see too much blood. Plenty opf blood spurts , but not to the point of being overdone.

Kelly Lin shows an amazing array of emotions in the film and her most expressive face provides a wonderful counterpoint to the flying bullets.

Cherrie Ying does a good job in her limited role and it likely got her noticed as she moved on to bigger and better roles following this film.

If you like action movies with lots of big guns, a couple of sexy babes, and some surprises then this is a film you should consider.

This DVD is available from both Netflix and Blockbuster, or for purchase from many retailers including Amazon.com.