CHINESE FIRE THRILL
FULLTIME KILLER []
Hong Kong’s greatest hits.In Cantonese, with English subtitles. Running time: 103 minutes. Not rated (violence). At the Cinema Village, 12th Street, east of Fifth Avenue.
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‘FULLTIME Killer,” directed by Johnny To and Wai Ka-fai, is another crackerjack thriller from Hong Kong.
Two wacky hit men are vying for the dubious honor of being “the gold medalist of assassins.”
One, named just O (Takashi Sorimachi) – an old hand at blowing people away – says he rents only movies he’s already seen because he doesn’t have a VCR.
His rival is the upstart Tok (Asian superstar Andy Lau), a movie buff who quotes from French films and sometimes goes about his deadly business wearing a giant Bill Clinton mask.
But, wait – there’s more. O and Tok also are rivals for the affections of Chin (hot model Kelly Lin), who happens to be O’s housekeeper.
The plot takes us all over Southeast Asia – Hong Kong, Pusan, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur – as the killers play an intricate game of cat and mouse.
Along the way, we see references to Hitchcock’s “Rear Window,” Wong Kar-wai’s “Fallen Angels” and who knows what else.
The story won’t win any prizes for coherence, but that doesn’t much matter.
As in most Hong Kong thrillers, it’s the visuals – love those boldly choreographed shootouts! – and moments of absurdity that count.
“Fulltime Killer” was China’s nominee for an Oscar, but it didn’t make the final cut.
That’s a crime, considering the mediocrity of some of the movies that were nominated.

