SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Dotbankey A lot of fun.

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Griff Lees Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

chaos-rampant I appreciate Johnnie To as much as anyone with a taste for slow-burn, contemplative cinema, but Fulltime Killer is among his lesser efforts. It is very sub-par compared to what he's capable of when he fires on all cylinders (see Exiled or Election) and just not a very good movie. Granted the action scenes are all good (not great) in that heroic bloodshed slo-mo kind of way, but the rest of the movie is all over the place. It tries to be many things and it doesn't really succeed in any. Themes and characters are picked then abandoned without being fully fleshed out in favour of the next one while narration comes and goes with no connection to a central premise. In the end it feels disjointed, confused and a bit derivative, but it's certainly not without its moments. There are also lots of references to other movies (T2, El Mariachi, Leon, Point Break, an Allain Delon film I couldn't pinpoint) which might tickle your film buff bone. For To fans only...

MartinHafer This film tells parallel stories about two top assassins--one very professional and one who is incredibly flamboyant and seems to have a death wish. At first, it was very hard for me to tease apart the stories, as they merged here and there and intertwined and even went backwards and forwards in time. Ultimately, the younger flamboyant assassin attempts to kill the more experienced killer--sort of a fight to the death to see who really is #1.I love Asian films but I hate the over-the-top violence of some of these films. It's funny but a week ago, I watched STREET FIGHTER (Japan, 1974) and later read the DVD box to see it had been rated X--but this film was STILL a lot less bloody and violent than many modern Asian films (such as those of John Woo or Chuen jik sat sau. There just comes a point for me when there is so much killing and blood and Nihilism that I just can't watch the films--this film was nearly that violent. Plus, there is a lot of puking and foaming at the mouth (this part really isn't explained--after all, WHO foams at the mouth and WHY?). So, before watching, understand the film IS well-made but I really cannot recommend it due to its unrelenting violence that really gets in the way of the plot at times. However, there IS a very good story behind all the violence and I must admit the film has high production values.

stormruston This is one of the better Hong-Kong bullet fest to be released in a while.The movie sets are good, the action fast, the gritty cold violence reasonably to excellently done. All the actors are good with kudo's going to Andy Lau for stealing many of the scenes.The basic story is about a flamboyant over the top new assassin hoping to take over number 1 spot held by a disciplined introspective killer.There are a couple of important sub plots involving a women and of course the cop trying to chase them both down.This movie is all about set action pieces and how well they can be executed...that that is pretty darn well.A fun movie with a charismatic cast and lots of blood and bullets.

margolin-3 In this film the director stays well ahead of us, pulling us into the baroque plot with a grin. Andy Lau and Takeshi Scaramachi are anti-heroes within a sexually charged subplot with Kelly Lin, cool and sexy with or without glasses. They work in the same field: assassination and soon they are seeking each other out for final termination. As with some stylish thrillers, ellipsis must be accepted. Oscar Wilde once said "The first purpose of life is to adopt a pose. The second purpose has not been discovered yet." This film revels in poses and extraordinary set pieces that are passionately beautiful. Beware how much you revel in the violence, stylized and chic as it is--even an assassin can feel sickened by his work. In some ways, the film parallels John Woo's "Face Off." A must see.