It is a performances centric movie

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

It's considered John Woo's masterpiece but boy, oh boy, I had a tough time sitting this one out to it's conclusion. It epitomizes all the things I find wrong with action movies in which good guy guns never run out of ammunition and the gore flows like water in a never ending display of bullet riddled bodies. And speaking of which, just how many times does one have to shoot the same guy before figuring he must be dead by now? Fortunately there's some semblance of a story here and the assassin/hero Ah Jong (Yun-Fat Chow) tries to do the right thing by the woman he blinded during a hit job that opens the picture. There's a double cross involved as well, and when Ah Jong is targeted by the mob instead of getting paid for a rub out, well it's off to the races to get his revenge before both the bad guys and the police put an end to his career. Maybe it was just my frame of mind while watching the picture, but I just can't relate to the effusive praise for the picture that I read from the other viewers here on IMDb. For many, it sounds like this film set the bar pretty high for Hong Kong actioners way back in 1989, but after almost thirty years as I write this, it comes across as an ultra-violent display of bullets and blood that doesn't merit it's accolades. I'd give it another try if I thought it would make a difference, but for right now, I'd have to say once was enough.

A high-octane, over-the-top & deliriously old-school action extravaganza, The Killer is a hardcore example of its genre that's jam-packed with style, swag & non-stop action, is stylishly directed by John Woo, brilliantly steered by Chow Yun-fat's confident performance, and features gunfights that are as thrilling as they are ludicrous.The Killer tells the story of an assassin who inadvertently damages the eyes of a young nightclub singer during a shootout and blames himself for her predicament. Determined to help her regain her sight, he accepts one last job but soon finds himself being hunted by his bosses as well as a cop who's handling the nightclub shooting case.Written & directed by John Woo, the film finds the notable filmmaker further tightening his grasp on genre elements with his patented gun fu action, slow-mo camera-work & aptly staged Mexican- standoffs. The plot unfolds at a frenetic velocity, never losing its intensity, while the action keeps surfacing on a consistent basis from the first frame to the last.It does slow down every now n then to indulge in some overly melodramatic moments. Character development part is somewhat rushed and is rarely convincing but the crazy stunt work & stellar choreography behind its action segments brushes away most of those shortcomings. Themes of friendship & honour is sensibly explored, and dark wit permeate its frames more often than once.Coming to the performances, the cast consists of Chow Yun-fat, Danny Lee, Sally Yeh, Chu Kong & others, and they all chip in with serviceable inputs. Yun-fat brings his charisma & swag into play to deliver a fab performance as the assassin while Lee challenges him in his role of the cop from time to time. The interplay between these two keep things interesting, however, there are no memorable villains to be found here.On an overall scale, The Killer works mainly because of its unadulterated approach, full-throttled action & engaging storyline, all made possible due to John Woo's raw shooting style & gifted eye for staging one-of-a-kind action segments. Bordering on comedy at times yet high on adrenaline for the most part, The Killer remains one of John Woo's most memorable works and is one of the most influential films of its kind. And deservingly so.

Asian action movies. I am a fan of stuff like Hero, Hard Boiled and Seven Samurai (if you can count that) So when I found this in a shop that packages rare DVD's I thought "Okay, it's Chow Yun Fat and directed by John Woo so I'll get it" and I liked it. It basically has all the clichés of "Heroes who don't play by the rules" "Villains who are petty, no development or any kind of arc" and at the end... I enjoyed it.The plot is that a hit-man who has a strong moral code (well... for a contract killer) accidentally blinds a woman on his latest contract. Feeling guilty he decides to get close to her and help her out in any way possible. While this is going on a cop who doesn't play by the rules is asked to be a bodyguard to a prominent figure - who is the hit-man's next target, after a chase between cop and hit-man the hit-man finds out he's been set up by the Triads because his identity was blown. The cop eventually finds out about him but they must team up together to kill all the triads.Basically my biggest problem with the movie is that the Triad boss's motivation is because he wants to clean up the whole "He's blown his cover" but he begins taking care of it as he's returning home. This would mean that he would prematurely know this is going on or someone found out about it, told him and he sent people after him and they got there in under 5 minutes, this is not because I missed a subtitle, in the action scene in the beginning of the movie the only survivor could not tell people what the assassin looked like.Aside from that it basically encompasses all to expect from this genre of film. The action as typical of John Woo is actually really good. The cinematography is also something to admire from this movie. Not the best but it is worth mentioning and I also think think to some extent the acting is... okay, I mean it's over the top in places - yes but that's the genre.So all of whether you'll like this movie or not boils down to if you like these types of movies. Because when you get down to it this movie is probably the best example of Hong Kong Action cinema I have seen and if you don't really like the clichés then you won't like this movie. I personally think it's half good movie half guilty pleasure (... if that makes sense) but if someone wants to see a solid enough action movie of the 80's then this is certainly going to satisfy your expectations.

"One vicious hit-man. One fierce cop. Ten thousand bullets."- from a promotional ad for THE KILLER. There are two exaggerations in that teaser slogan for THE KILLER. The hit-man played by Chow Yun Fat is actually a suave, rather sentimental anti-hero who is looking to bail out of his deadly-force-for-hire profession. Yes, he's a murderer. But he doesn't enjoy his work. As for the "fierce cop", Danny Lee portrays him as more of a dogged, enthusiastic peace officer than as an maniacal enforcer of the law. But what about those ten thousand bullets? I'll put it to you this way: at quite a few points in the film you may find yourself sitting there with your mouth agape and your eyes bulging from their sockets. Keep the remote handy also for you may be doing extensive replaying of scenes. The action sequences are mind-boggling in the cleverness of their staging and intensity of their execution. John Woo's best film carries his signature motif of entangling alliances between good guy/bad guy/evil guy(s), spinning around in a hypertensive milieu of criminality where exhaustive foot chases, unbelievable physical dexterity, and claustrophobic showdowns are the norm. And all of this unfolds beneath a firestorm of discharged ammunition. What has always set Woo's Hong Kong films apart are the exquisitely balletic movements of his actor/characters while under semi-automatic duress (surpassing Peckinpah's earlier but static slo-mo style by leaps and bounds). Working in Hollywood, Woo has been hard pressed to live up to his earlier films. HARD TARGET, BROKEN ARROW, FACE/OFF, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II, et al. are cartoonish popcorn flicks missing the all important complexity and richness of character and story of the Hong Kong films. Hollywood sunders another original talent. But watch THE KILLER, get involved in the story, and look out for those flying bullets. One day, hopefully, Woo will recapture his earlier form.