FORMAT: DVD (REWATCH)
ORIGINAL REVIEW:
(As posted on December 29th, 2011)
There’s a scene in John Woo’s The Killer where Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee have a Mexican standoff in a hospital, but not an actual shootout. I have a feeling he must’ve regretted not staging an honest to God gun battle in that setting because in Hard Boiled, the action-packed finale takes place entirely in a hospital. And thank Christ that Woo decided to do so. Not only is the hospital scene one of the best action sequences ever put on film; it’s what makes Hard Boiled one of The Greatest Movies in the History of the Human Race.
Chow Yun Fat stars as a toothpick twirling cop named Tequila who plays in a jazz band. When a slimy gangster kills his partner, Tequila goes out for revenge. He joins forces with an undercover informant and together the duo learns that our villain is hiding an arsenal inside the local hospital. But just when Tequila discovers the cache of weapons, the bad guy decides to take the entire hospital hostage and it’s up to him to rescue the patients and save the day.
If you’re looking for a compelling story, then you’ll prefer The Killer over Hard Boiled as its plot is mostly just an excuse to stage some incredible action sequences. However, if it’s incredible action sequences that you crave, then there may not be a movie out there to rival Hard Boiled. (Also, Tequila is an infinitely cooler name for a Chow Yun Fat character than “Mickey Mouse”.)
The opening teahouse shootout sets the bar for the movie. From there on out, Woo continuously raises it. I mean if you think the part where Fat slides down the railing and blows away a bunch of bad guys is badass, wait until you get to the part where he jumps through the air covered in flour looking like a straight-up ghost. Fat lands on the bad guy, pointing his gun directly to his head; then he spits out his toothpick and blows the dude away as the guy’s blood splatters all over his face. I submit to you that there is no badder baddest badass scene in a movie than this one.
We also get a terrific sequence where a bunch of bad guys on dirt bikes ride into a warehouse and go around shooting the holy Hell out of everyone. Just when they think they’re hot shit and everything, Fat drops down from the ceiling with a shotgun and kicks an uncharted amount of ass. The part where he blows away three motorcyclists in rapid succession is the very epitome of action movie awesomeness.
The final hospital sequence is some of the finest action footage ever committed to film. You’ve heard of balls to the walls action? Well, the action in the finale is balls THROUGH the walls. From the scenes of Fat zipping around on morgue slabs and hospital gurneys to the ridiculous amount of collateral damage to the numerous shots of people crashing through windows to the amazing shootouts (the most impressive of which was done in one take, no less); everything about this sequence kicks ass. Of course the numero supremo moment comes when Fat rescues a baby from the burning hospital. When his legs catch on fire, the kid pisses on him to put out the flame! Amazing.
I guess when this first came out; we all sorta took it for granted that all Woo films would be exactly like the one-two punch of The Killer and Hard Boiled. Unfortunately, Woo moved to Hollywood where his insane eye for action was diluted by the studio suits. I’m not saying those Hollywood films are bad by any means (I happen to think Mission Impossible 2 is a batshit insane looney tunes WTF classic), but they lacked the resonance of those two films.
Still, I’d gladly take the diluted Woo stuff over what passes for action now. I’m sure Woo looks at all the shaky-cam bullshit/under choreographed/close-up laden action films today and just shakes his head. None of what comes out today is one hair of the nut sac of Hard Boiled.
AKA: The Hot-Handed God of Cops. AKA: Ruthless Super Cop.
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