Redundant and unnecessary.

Boring, over-political, tech fuzed mess

Awesome Movie

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Good production values, great photography, seamless editing, attractive young Oriental stars, and a puzzling plot leave you guessing to the very end what the outcome is. In the meantime enjoy relentless action in a realistic gorefest involving a competitive face-off between the 2 best hit men in the Far East, and some pretty smart and relentless police who are out to take them both down. It all takes place in many exotic locales around Hong Kong and Southeast Asia. What impressed me was that although my initial reaction to the two main protagonists was negative, I began to like and to root for each one to survive. It's not all bullets -- the gore is quickly passed over, and there's a lot of athleticism to add some interest, as well as some arty overtones by way of O's interest in photography, and even a brief, artfully-done sex scene. There are flashbacks and story-telling which confound the plot by taking you back and forth in time and back and forth between fiction and reality. I recognized Andy Lau, playing Tok, from House of the Flying Daggers. This movie is much better for its genre than a lot of the dreck coming out of Hollywood.

For those of us out there that miss the "Old" John Woo from The Killer, Hard Boiled, and A Better Tomorrow 1&2, Johnny To comes to pick up where Woo left off with Fulltime Killers. Now while some call that a blatant bootleg or hijacking of John Woo's style, I call it a pleasant revisit.Andy Lau plays Tok, a flamboyant leather clad professional killer who not only takes pride in his work but also looks to put himself in the spotlight with every kill he makes. Tok is a sort of tribute to one Castor Troy of Face-Off, with his flair and his trademark smile which he flashes at all times. Takashi Sorimachi plays O, a more traditional killer with a guilty conscience, who stays in the shadows and executes his job keeping himself out of the spotlight. O's guilty conscience is the result of an innocent getting caught up in his world. O is something of a tribute to Chow Yun-Fat's character in The Killer. As a result of O's more low-key approach he is the highest ranked and most sought after professional much to the dismay of Tok. Naturally a rivalry will result between these two polar opposites in an attempt to be the top.Acting as a catalyst to this rivalry is the lovely Kelly Lin, playing Chin, a mild-mannered video store clerk who is bored by life. An incidental visit by Tok to her video store, and a second job cleaning O's apartment begins a chain of events that puts her in the middle of these two professional killers rivalry.Fulltime Killer provides mind-blowing action scenes and a love triangle that even guys don't mind keeping up with. A throughly entertaining movie and a throwback to the "old" John Woo puts this movie high on my list. Give it a chance, and you'll be entertained at the very least.

I'm a fan of Asian gangster/noir films, so I maybe biased somewhat in giving this movie thumbs up. I can totally see why this movie might come across as totally lame; it has half- baked plot with a rather strange pace, underdeveloped characters, and a little substance overall. The movies feels like some Japanese manga comic. But I guess that's the whole Asian gangster/noir genre in general(actually many are pretty bad, I think). Even then, Fulltime Killer was pretty memorable for me. Maybe it is because some of its cool and innovative cinematography? Maybe because the movie had some strange but strong feel, an atmosphere to it. Maybe it's because I thought Kelly Lin was such a hotty. I can't really say. But Fulltime Killer got under my skin. I saw it over and over again.

I would call this a playful mix of different influences. Of course there is always a downside to making a mix between already existing movies, you get the feeling you have seen all of it before. But this is still entertaining."O" (Takashi Sorimachi) is the coolest hit-man in Asia. If you need a professional hit done you call him for a clean and professional execution. Tok (Any Lau) is the new kid on the block fighting to become the best hit-man. He is becoming more and more irritated always hearing about how great O is. Soon the two assassins have a vendetta going.There are many obvious references and nods to other movies in "Fulltime Killer". And much of the movie is more or less stolen from already existing movies. But it's always done tongue-in-cheek and Tok even comments on what movies he like and how much he wants to be like a movie star. That's why this feels so playful, the film-makers never try to hide that they are inspired by existing movies.The action-scenes are well made and most of the time beautifully shot. The two main actors are both good and the assassinations are well thought-out and entertaining. Also the climax of the movie is quite original. So this is recommended for people who don't mind influences and are hooked on movies about hit men. I rate it 6/10.