The John Woo school of the ballet-of-bullets gets a full dose of Sam Peckinpah under the steady hand of director Antoine Fuqua’s finely framed tale of revenge.
Stylized in rainy blues, greens, and reds Chow Yun-fat is understated as John Lee, a professional assassin who comes to grips with his humanity when he’s called on to kill the seven year-old son of a Los Angeles police officer.
The pace quickens when Meg Coburn (Mira Sorvino), a document forger, is pulled into the fray.
The plot is secondary to the action, but oh what action–engraved bullets, sexy shoot-outs, and gallons of the glowing, glistening, hot blood of the evil assassins trying to knock off our seductive Asian and Caucasian duo.
Chow Yun-Fat dresses better than James Bond, and Mira Sorvino understands grace under pressure like a nouveau Emma Peel.
Rated R. 88 mins.
