The Big Hit A rather lengthy movie review by Josh Hammonds
Josh's Scale o' Cinema: 7.8 out of 10
Capsule: Suprisingly more of a comedy than a straight action flick, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Not exactly Oscar caliber, but one helluva bullet-riddled good time.
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. The action, at least what there is of it, is prime cut stuff. Wong, after numerous Hong Kong features, makes quite a nice U.S. debut. However, his pacing is a bit off, with the action sequences only bookending the movie and not lasting long enough. They start off electrifying and fresh, but just kinda stop. Normally, this would hamper a movie to the point of being unenjoyable. Luckily, we have Ben Ramsey's screenplay, a bitingly funny piece of work. The only problem is there might be too much humor, one joke makes you laugh so hard you miss the next few. Some of best gags 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 a stylishly directed, gut-wrenchingly funny joyride. Definately one of the better ways to spend two hours.
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