My Favourite Movies: The Replacement Killers

John Lee (played by Chow Yun-Fat) is a killer working off a debt to his ruthless employer Chinese gangster Terrence Wei (played by Kenneth Tsang). When the crime lords son dies in a police shoot out he directs John Lee to kill the police officers 7 years old son in revenge. But Lee cannot kill an innocent child and goes on the run – back to China to protect his family from the wrath of Terrence Wei. But before he can leave the USA he needs a fake passport. Enter smart forger Meg Coburn (played by the lovely Mira Sorvino – dressed mostly in her underwear throughout the film) who offers to produce fake documents for $1000 cash. Before any documentation can be handed over thugs hired by Wei interrupt things the way only thugs can – with lots and lots of bullets. Now both Lee and Meg are on the run moving from seedy hotel to low-life hang-out only minutes away from another set piece shoot-out. Initially hostile to each other Meg and Lee begin to work together and understand each other until they finally realise that the only way out is through Terrence Wei and his criminal organisation.

This is a film long on style and rather thin on substance which honestly appealed to the young teenage boy in me. Not only does it have the great Chow Yun-Fat, who I adore, it also had the delightful Ms Sorvino, mostly getting dressed and undressed and mostly just wearing a leather jacket over her underwear (was that the style in 1998 or did I miss something?). On top of this was the fact that the story, such that it was, strung together some great shoot-outs clearly choreographed by the great and wonderful John Woo – full of sweeping flowing motions in slow-motion and more bullets than you could count. It is, above all else, a wonderfully made if far from subtle film. My DVD copy is an 18 certificate though I struggle to see why. There’s plenty of violence and quite a bit of blood but nothing more than you see in 15 certificate movies. There’s no sex and no nudity and very little to no swearing. The subject matter isn’t particularly strong so what made it an 18? No idea. That certainly shouldn’t put you off watching it (if you’re over 15 that is!) although I wouldn’t classify it as family entertainment. It’s a stylish fusion of Hollywood and Hong-Kong that impressed me at the time and I still enjoy watching 15 years later. Oh, but make sure that you leave your critical faculties on pause during the whole experience. Much of the film is rather silly if you think about it too much. Just go with the flow and enjoy the ride. You won’t have your mind expanded but you might have 84 minutes of action-packed fun.