Hong Kong
88 mins.
Directed by Chung Chi Li & Jacky Wu
Starring: Jacky Wu-Jing, Celina Jade, Suet Lam, Kara Hui
To say Jacky Wu (Wu-Jing) should be a bigger star than he is would be like saying Sarah Palin wouldn't make a very good president. They're both massive understatements any way you slice it. Proving himself in Fatal Contact and SPL (don't call it Kill Zone or HK nerds will yell at you impotently) Jing showed that he could play both hero and villain well enough to hold your interest more effectively than a thousand CW model/actor clones.
Add in SPL rip-off Fatal Move (which is actually not that bad) and Drunken Monkey, and you've already got a very decent action star resume. We'll see if he ever makes the transition to top star, but for now we'll have to settle for Legendary Assassin.
Don't let that fool you into thinking Legendary Assassin is tame or subpar in any way. It ends up being a fun, albeit inconsequential, martial arts potboiler.
To say Jacky Wu (Wu-Jing) should be a bigger star than he is would be like saying Sarah Palin wouldn't make a very good president. They're both massive understatements any way you slice it. Proving himself in Fatal Contact and SPL (don't call it Kill Zone or HK nerds will yell at you impotently) Jing showed that he could play both hero and villain well enough to hold your interest more effectively than a thousand CW model/actor clones.
Add in SPL rip-off Fatal Move (which is actually not that bad) and Drunken Monkey, and you've already got a very decent action star resume. We'll see if he ever makes the transition to top star, but for now we'll have to settle for Legendary Assassin.
Don't let that fool you into thinking Legendary Assassin is tame or subpar in any way. It ends up being a fun, albeit inconsequential, martial arts potboiler.
Jing plays Bo, a badass hitman with a slight conscience. Although we never see him actually assassinate more than one person, we are led to believe he only pulls Dexters and lays off whacking nice folks. The one assassination in question is Chairman Ma, a stock scumbag crimelord holing up on an island with his requisite band of thugs. Of course, Bo annihilates them and lops off Ma's head before the titles even show up. The real story kicks in after he takes the head as proof of a job well done and hoofs it for the last ferry off the island before a typhoon arrives.
Well, it wouldn't be a movie if he actually made the ferry, right? Well, alright, it would probably end up being some kind of movie; who the hell knows what, though...
Apparently, Chairman Ma's wifey (Kara Hui) is a you-know-what on rollerskates and wants the head with body accessory back. Enter HK mainstay Suet Lam as an underboss with a complete squad of goons in tow. They make it on the island via the last ferry and now both Bo and the bad guys are on the island. The movie should pretty much just write itself at this point, right?
That's where Legendary Assassin actually ends up being a bit of a pleasant surprise. Instead of going for the usual cat-and-mouse-with-a-natural-disaster-looming chestnut, they actually have Bo hanging out and getting to know the local cops. Yup, because, you know, he's a good hitman. A nice one. They'll never suspect him because he has manners, you know. Actually, he really is suspected later on which is a plus for the cops and serves as a reminder that some movies (both East and West) are laughably bad in the believability department. Hmmm. A crime kingpin's body is missing his head and this newcomer is always carrying that bag around that could definitely fit a head. Hmmm.
Well, it wouldn't be a movie if he actually made the ferry, right? Well, alright, it would probably end up being some kind of movie; who the hell knows what, though...
Apparently, Chairman Ma's wifey (Kara Hui) is a you-know-what on rollerskates and wants the head with body accessory back. Enter HK mainstay Suet Lam as an underboss with a complete squad of goons in tow. They make it on the island via the last ferry and now both Bo and the bad guys are on the island. The movie should pretty much just write itself at this point, right?
That's where Legendary Assassin actually ends up being a bit of a pleasant surprise. Instead of going for the usual cat-and-mouse-with-a-natural-disaster-looming chestnut, they actually have Bo hanging out and getting to know the local cops. Yup, because, you know, he's a good hitman. A nice one. They'll never suspect him because he has manners, you know. Actually, he really is suspected later on which is a plus for the cops and serves as a reminder that some movies (both East and West) are laughably bad in the believability department. Hmmm. A crime kingpin's body is missing his head and this newcomer is always carrying that bag around that could definitely fit a head. Hmmm.
The scenes with him getting to know the affable cops (except for the token dickhead) are amazingly enjoyable and not woefully expositional or forced with over-sentimentality. He shows up, they have dinner, he cooks for them because he eats all their food, he chit-chats a bit, and that's about it. Nice and simple; a welcome respite before the rest of the action.
Another thing is that Bo is ridiculously powerful. When two of the cops go check out a noise disturbance and eventually stumble on Ma's body and a squad of goofs guarding him, Jing is of course following them and wipes them out just by sneezing lightly. This comes into play later in the Shane-like finale. If I spoiled that for you, then you've either never seen an "assassin with a heart of gold" movie or you're just an idiot.
One last thing is Celina Jade. Armed with Sandra Bullock-ish beauty and a spunk and sass that feels neither phony nor insipid, she actually makes a great complement to Jing's friendly but taciturn cleaner. I mean, they meet when he saves her from an attempt to get her cat out of a tree. I think that's some sort of requirement option in Asian movie romances. As a cop who's not afraid to throw a few kicks and punches in the heat of battle, she's a refreshing change of pace from the two-note action female buffet of either cranky bad girls who belittle men or the squawking, insufferable damsels in distress that litter lesser action movies like Dip'n Dots cups at a theme park.
Most of the fights are assuredly fun to watch, especially an early scene where Bo realizes he's stuck on the island and meets Celina Jade's cop character Hiu Wor. She awkwardly instigates a fight with three alleged crooks on the run and naturally Jing steps in to give her some assistance. Two of the guys would make Andre the Giant look like Herve Villechaize on a cold day and the main guy just eats noodles while the pounding ensues. It's a fast and fun fight that feels both exhilarating and brutal. There are three or four other fights that are well done but too short to remark on memorably. It all leads to a final fight with Bo taking on a hundred or so of the female boss's henchmen while Hiu is forced to watch. It's a good fight for sure, but not overwhelmingly awesome like the Burly Brawl in Matrix Reloaded, the Crazy 88 massacre in Kill Bill, or the bone-breaking orgy in The Protector (Tom Yum Goong).
Jing commits himself to the role of Bo well and actually brings depth to an admittedly shallow part that would have been laughable in the hands of so many other folks (see: Cage, Nicolas; Bangkok Dangerous (2008)). All we know is Bo is a conscientious assassin who likes to eat. A lot. And Jing takes that and runs with it as far as he can given the typical trope constraints of the genre.
Throw in Bo's gluttonous rendezvous in a noodle shop, a chance encounter with another main character, bowling ball switcheroos and a clear disregard for watching calorie intake on the part of Bo and you've got enough to keep you interested for barely ninety minutes.
If you haven't checked out the great Fatal Contact, then you might not know who Jacky Wu is. First of all, shame on you. Second of all, what are you waiting for? Another Transporter movie? You have no idea what you're missing.
Throw in Bo's gluttonous rendezvous in a noodle shop, a chance encounter with another main character, bowling ball switcheroos and a clear disregard for watching calorie intake on the part of Bo and you've got enough to keep you interested for barely ninety minutes.
If you haven't checked out the great Fatal Contact, then you might not know who Jacky Wu is. First of all, shame on you. Second of all, what are you waiting for? Another Transporter movie? You have no idea what you're missing.
lMC
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