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| “The
killer is a man who does bad things, but
he wants to be good.” —Woo
John Woo, a filmmaker born in Southern
China in 1946, grew up in Hong Kong, where
he began on his path of exploration of the
moving image medium. He started off as a
director's assistant in 1969, working for
Shaw Brothers Studios. He then directed
his first feature in 1973, and has been
a successful director ever since. He developed
wide variety of genres, beginning with traditional
kung-fu movies to which the Chinese audience
was accustomed but suddenly switching gears
to pursue the action genre with "A
Better Tomorrow" (1986). The latter
can be considered the movie that established
Woo's reputation as a master stylist specializing
in ultra-violent gangster films and thrillers.
Woo's films consist of elaborately crafted
action scenes filled with slow motion, birds,
and rivers of blood. After gaining a cult
reputation in the US - which included the
admiration of Quentin Tarantino, among others
- with "The Killer" (1989), Woo
sold his soul to Hollywood and has been
involved in the making of the most ambitious
action movies like "Face Off,"
"Broken Arrow," and, most recently,
"Mission Impossible II." Most,
if not all, of his movies have a few defining
characteristics: Each is a mixture of martial
arts ballet with gunplay; there is always
a final confrontation of protagonist and
antagonist near the sea; pleasant music
accompanies action scenes; there is a focus
on the sense of loyalty among friends; sequences
featuring birds in slow motion are ever-present;
and, and most importantly, there are always
guns and lots of blood... lots of it!
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A
Better Tomorrow (1986)
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In this sequence, Mark literally
kills an entire room of
gangsters. It has taken
Woo to the next level -
one where too much blood
is simply not good enough.
Photos © Fox Lorber
Home Video |
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Leslie Chung, a pop
singer at the time,
got his hands dirty
with blood while playing
the nice guy in "A
Better Tomorrow." |
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Super-cool mobster Mark (Chow Yun Fat) is a man of
honor in a world of crime. His partner Ho
(Ti Lung) is having second thoughts, because
kid brother Kit (Leslie Cheung) is an ambitious
cop. Kit remains blissfully ignorant until
Ho is double-crossed, their father is murdered,
and Ho is imprisoned.
Mark swears to avenge his friend, but ends
up being a cripple in the ensuing shoot-out,
which is a legendary scene of sensationally
choreographed gunplay that turned the eyes
of directors like Tarantino with its clever
execution. As Ho returns, he finds the crippled
Mark reduced to cleaning the gang boss's limo.
Both swear to forget about gangs and start
a new life, but neither Kit nor the crime
lords are done with them yet. Finally, Mark,
Ho, and Kit must face their destiny in a blazing
cross-fire of conflicting loyalties and hot
lead that gets Mark killed, but this sacrifice
is the one that gets the brothers together
again.
Woo reaches a fine-tuned balance of strong
characterization and ballistic action, while
Chow is flawless in the role which launched
him into super-stardom.
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| The
Killer (1989)
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Chow Yun Fat is the one
mobster that started it
all. If you think the Sopranos
are cool, you better see
where this show's producers
got most of their ideas.
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The "Mexican stand-off,"
that moment where people
talk while pointing guns
at each other, is employed
in this film to raise the
intensity and the momentum
of the confrontation.
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A killer, Jeffrey, played by king of cool Chow
Yun Fat, regrets his life after he has blinded
a singer (Sally Yeh) while committing a crime.
He then decides to take care of her, but doesn't
tell her about his violent life. In the meantime,
on his back are some underground mobs that
wish to take his life, as well as a policeman
who wants to bring him down. Along the narrative,
Jeffery convinces Lee Yong (Danny Lee), that
he has changed and wants to pay his dues.
Young helps him out, overcoming the mobs.
In the grand finale filled with rivers of
blood, the unforgettable battle takes place
inside a church.
This film finalizes the stardom of Chow Yun
Fat as the mold to be followed in terms of
being a cool mobster, something copied in
the character of Castor Troy ('Face Off',
1997), various members of "The Sopranos"
ensemble cast (HBO), and every bad guy in
the movies that plays cool. 'The Killer' also
puts Danny Lee in the spotlight. The interplay
between the Yun Fat and Lee is outstanding;
not a single line lacks intensity, and every
scene makes you wonder how many bullets do
these guys' guns hold.
This film was not as commercial as it should
have been in native Tokyo, mainly due to its
violence. However, it was the final statement
that confirmed John Woo was ready to go overseas
and work in Hollywood. Perhaps this movie,
along with 'Hard Boiled', was the one Woo
film which impacted Western cinema audiences
the most. |
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| Face
Off (1997)
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Travolta plays "Archer,"
a cop who has spent
his life obsessively
chasing the man who
killed his son. |
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Cage plays "Troy,"
a lunatic/sex maniac
assassin that meets
his match in Archer.
Photos© Paramount
Pictures |
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Once more, Woo recreates the super-cool mobster,
now using two of Hollywood's finest, John
Travolta and Nicholas Cage. The story is about
a cop (Archer, played by Travolta) hunting
the guy (Troy, played by Cage) who killed
his son and all the vicissitudes that make
Archer go along with a surgery that forces
him to exchange faces - and, subsequently,
entire identities - with Troy in order to
save the city.
Unfortunately, Archer gets trapped in Troy's
body after the surgery, as Troy, in an unexpected
twist, takes over Archer's life as a policeman
and sends Archer to jail. The narrative is
extraordinarily complex; if you leave your
seat even for a minute, you will lose track
of what the heck is going on. As the story
reaches its climax, Woo creates one of the
longest-ever confrontations between Archer
and Troy, with fully orchestrated gun fights
and many deaths. Archer gets back both his
face and redemption.
This is one of the few times there has been
such a level of intensity on screen, with
two actors interchanging roles back and forth.
As usual, Woo's characters display a great
arsenal of the finest guns, the nicest suits
and vehicles; however, the director also shows
that the only difference between the hunter
and the prey is a badge, reminding us of his
previous work, "The Killer." | |
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Mission
Impossible (2000)
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If Tom Cruise was calling
James Bond out with this
film, he succeeded. The
fact that he did all his
own stunt work and explored
the implementation of some
martial arts in the fights
raises the level that the
next Bond film has to achieve.
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Thandie Newton plays
Nyah, Hunt's love
interest and international
thief.
Photos © Paramount
Pictures |
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Super-agent Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back
in business once again, this time to save
the world (as you know, that's what all super-agents
do...) from a lethal virus. Not a difficult
mission, this one is a 'mission impossible,'
just like all the ones he gets. In the process,
Hunt bumps heads and falls in love with his
antagonist ex-girlfriend, which causes a problem
for him when it comes to get things done.
Nonetheless, Hunt saves the day in John Woo
style, with some martial art stunts, gun fight
sequences, and chases that remind one of James
Bond's escapades.
In this complete package, we are introduced
to Tom Cruise at his most engaging - kicking,
high-flying, and doing some marvelous stunts
while mountain-climbing. The only this that
'Mission Impossible II' is missing to look
completely like a James Bond film is Ethan
Hunt having multiple affairs. Yet the film
takes the Mission Impossible legacy to a whole
new level, as it trademarks sequences such
as the motorcycle chase, the entrance from
the top of a building, and the emotional dialogue
when Hunt when promises the girl he is not
going to lose her. The movie mixes and borrows
from previous Woo films quite a lot: At times,
Hunt's character explodes in a martial arts
kick while shooting with two guns at the same
time and killing tons of bad guys - just like
Chow Yun Fat has done before Tom Cruise. |
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