As the original theatrical trailers and TV ads so proudly exclaimed -- amidst the gunplay, irreverent attitudes, and MTV inspired atmosphere -- the "same team" that made "Broken Arrow" and "Face/Off" brought us the 1998 film, "The Big Hit." While movies always try to lure in viewers by playing off the success of previous films, the ads made most viewers believe that the same director, the legendary Hong Kong turned Hollywood auteur, John Woo, helmed all three films. While he is one of the film's executive producers, this release, much like Woo's other produced feature, "The Replacement Killers," suffers from him not also wearing the director's cap. Call this one, "John Woo Lite."
To be fair, "The Big Hit" and "The Replacement Killers" are rather different, although they share many similarities. Both are about professional assassins, and both are helmed by directors who have a highly visual style about them. Yet, where "Replacement Killers" yielded few laughs, "The Big Hit" tries so hard to be funny -- and occasionally is -- that it may surprise viewers expecting a more straightforward action film.
Sure, the big action set pieces are there, as are the massive amounts of gunfire that are all choreographed for maximum impact. Even so, the film goes straight for the goofy comedy during, and then immediately after, the obligatory action-filled opening. As Mark Wahlberg is blasting away at the other bad guys, one of his companions offers another some non-dairy creamer for his coffee in the hallway just outside the melee. After they're done, everyone goes home and we follow Wahlberg to his lovely suburban home that looks so much like the other suburban homes that even he can't remember which driveway is his.
While this may sound like one of those spoof movies in the line of the "Airplane" and "Naked Gun" films, it never quite goes far enough to be associated with them. Yet, it's so goofy at times that you don't know whether to laugh at its absurd nature or think that it's simply quite stupid. For every bit involving a geeky video store clerk unknowingly threatening a hitman (Mel) if he doesn't return a video, and the few jokes on suburban life (we see a parade of white men in white shorts and flowered shirts mowing their tiny yards with their electric mowers, all in unison), there are many bad exchanges of dialogue (such as one normally finds in the typical Jackie Chan flick).
The film certainly isn't as well made or genuinely funny as that other hitman with a conscience comedy from a few years back, "Grosse Pointe Blank." Part of the problem lies with the main character. As played by Mark Wahlberg -- the former white bread rapper and now big star thanks to his work in "Boogie Nights" and "Three Kings" -- Mel is a complete split personality case.
At work, he has no qualms about killing people, jumping out of windows, and during these moments and in his training we see that he's quite the physical specimen. Still, when he's home living in his comfortable suburban spread, he's insecure (guzzling down the antacids), has money problems, and seems like such a nice guy. He even goes so far as attempting to cook his future in-laws a Kosher Jewish meal, and after blowing away Keiko's marginal boyfriend for harassing her, he politely apologizes and says, "He was rude."
In a straight out spoof, all of that would be quite funny. Yet, since the film never pushes the envelope far enough in that direction, the results are too incongruous to be taken either seriously or humorously enough to be as much fun as they should be. Cusack's anguished hitman in "Grosse Pointe Blank" seemed genuine -- he was good at what he did, but had a biting sarcasm about him that made him seem real. Mel, on the other hand, seems just like a cleverly written invention made up by screenwriter Ben Ramsey (making his big screen debut at the time). While he's likeable as a domestic homemaker and thrilling as an expert assassin, the two never meld into one person.
Lou Diamond Philips ("Courage Under Fire," "La Bamba"), on the other hand, has no such problems, as his character is a simple hoodlum. Although he gets too deranged at the end for his -- and the film's -- own good, Philips purposefully chews up the scenery with the best of them. Beyond those two, the rest of the characters aren't developed or differentiated enough to really tell them apart or care anything about them, although China Chow is moderately appealing in a feisty sort of way.
Lainie Kazan ("My Favorite Year") and Elliot Guild ("M*A*S*H" the movie) show up as Mel's future in-laws, an irritatingly stereotypical Jewish set of parents, present only as a plot complication. Little of their material is very funny and mainly focuses on Gould's repetitive attempts to drink some liquor, an act his wife and daughter vehemently stop. While there seems to be hints at some great comedic potential building once he does start drinking, the humor is relegated to him barfing on Philips during an under-the-table, gun-pointing showdown.
The film does work best at its moments of physical comedy and particularly its instances of misdirection. Just like the classic vaudevillian productions up through TV shows like "I Love Lucy," the moments where Mel must hide and/or redirect people from discovering that a) he has a chopped up body in some garbage bags outside that the neighbor's dog is after and b) that he has a bound hostage in the house who tries to hop away while "a" is simultaneously occurring, are quite funny in a morbid way.
Hong Kong director Che-Kirk Wong, making his American debut, certainly has an eye for such scenes, as well as staging some spectacular stunts and gun battles (including one where Wahlberg spins on the floor like a break dancer, shooting people while spinning in circles, and another where he rolls down the handrails of a staircase like a straight pin). This film, however, is so uneven in its approach that it never fully sustains any plot driven motivation and the fact that it's so goofy -- but not quite goofy enough -- undermines the action scenes.
As in many films of this genre and caliber, it gets downright bad at the end with people presumably being killed but then showing up again for some more fighting (with a visual explanation about how they survived that we, of course, get to see), Wahlberg driving his car backwards while shooting a machine gun out through the absent windshield, and a car knocking down trees in a forest like they were matchsticks. Disappointedly, these last moments and the grand finale -- where we have the stereotypical mano a mano fistfight scene between the "good guy" and the villain -- are nowhere as thrilling as the opening sequence. It's as if the production simply ran out of gas or any last bits of I.Q. before they could get those end credits rolling.
While this film will probably please adolescent and college-aged males, its lack of cohesion and its comically callous look at killing people will most likely prevent it from doing the same with mainstream viewers. Although it features some funny moments and some decent action sequences, it's nowhere as good as the similarly constructed "Grosse Pointe Blank." Had the filmmakers pushed the film further into becoming a straight out spoof, or toned down the material and used it just to complement the action mayhem, it might have been much better. As it stands, "The Big Hit" has its moments, but collectively doesn't even approach what its title suggests.
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