The horrors persist but so do we. Right? I mean, it is a terrifying shit show out there right now. But hopefully my silly little writings about Review Stew for the year can provide a bit of an escape, even if only for a few minutes of your day. So, let’s get right to it for this week’s addition to our stew. Before Jet Li was wasted in American films, he made one final action movie in Hong Kong…Contract Killer (1998).
Title: Contract Killer (Original title is Hitman)
Director: Stephen Tung Wai
Released: April 3, 1998 (Hong Kong)
Runtime: 1 hour 43 minutes
Available to stream on: Peacock, Pluto, Prime Video (These are all the English dub released as Contract Killer, and it’s a pretty rough dubbing. The original Cantonese version with English subtitles is out there somewhere…)
A wealthy ex-yakuza businessman named Tsukamoto (Kenji Sahara) is assassinated by a hitman only known as “The King of Killers”. However, being the savvy individual that he was, Tsukamoto set aside a sort of revenge fund with $100 million in it. In the event of his assassination, those funds become the bounty on the head of his killer.
Fu (Jet Li) is an ex-soldier working in a small ragtag gang. Word travels fast about the bounty and when he hears of it, he decides he wants in. When Fu attempts to gain access to the building where Tsukamoto’s lawyers are meeting, security steps in. What security wasn’t expecting though was Fu to lay waste to them with his martial arts skills. This catches the eye of a small-time crook by the name of Lo (Eric Tsang Chi-Wai) who decides to hire Fu as his muscle.
Now with a hired assassin on his payroll, Lo feels like collecting on that bounty will be a breeze. Although, one thing remains a bit of a mystery…
Is Fu the cold-blooded assassin Lo believes him to be?
I was unable to find an easily accessible original version of this film. Somewhere out there is Hitman in Cantonese with English subtitles. Unfortunately, all that is available stateside to stream is Contract Killer, a heavily edited and English dubbed version of Hitman with a ton of rap songs shoehorned in because why not. The dubbing is impressively bad and can be a bit of a challenge to get past.
However, if you’re able to stick it out, what you get is a bit of a mixed bag from Jet Li. One thing we aren’t accustomed to seeing from Jet Li (at least in 1998) is comedy mixed into his martial arts films. For the most part, up to this point, it’s straight forward action. It was neat to see him try something new, especially considering this was his last film before coming over to America. While he’s no Jackie Chan, Li was able to hold his own from a comedic standpoint. Nothing felt forced or completely awkward.
The one thing you do expect from a Jet Li film is action. On that front, Contract Killer (1998) delivers, somewhat. Yes, there are some intense action sequences. And the ones we do get are a lot of fun, like the one in the elevator shaft. What’s a bit of a let down though is that they are few and far between.
Like I said, this is a bit of a mixed bag. The story works well enough, the choreography in the action scenes is impressive and fun, and Jet Li shows that he has some comedic chops. But good lord, the unnecessary addition of rap songs and the dubbing really brings the whole thing down for me. This is not a knock on the film, just the English cut of it that was released.
If you consider yourself a fan of Jet Li, Contract Killer (1998) is worth checking out.
If you’re like me, you’ll be on the lookout for a Cantonese version of Hitman afterwards.
So, what say you? Have you seen Contract Killer (1998)?
If so, let me know your thoughts on it in the comments or over on Bluesky.
You can also follow me over on Letterboxd to see what else I’ve been watching lately.