Crying Freeman is based off a Manga and tells the tale of the Freeman, a tattooed assassin (played by Mark Dacascos) "brainwashed" to kill for a secret Chinese crime syndicate. And kill he does (often in slo-mo); he is skilled with guns, swords, and what have you! Anyway, in the opening double hit, a female (of course) artist is witness to the violent act. He lets her go, for now, but the rule is no one can see his face and live. He is sent back to snuff her out but as he waits in her house, he finds a painting of himself. He realizes that this woman is not a threat and in fact, has some kind of feelings for him. When she finally arrives, he cannot kill her. Now, in addition to the Mafia who want revenge for their two slain men, Freeman's own group decided he broke the rules and must die for it (after one last hit, of course). There are many more ins and outs to the story but I think you get the idea. There is a decent helping of good, violent action and this is probably the film's strong point. Still, the general atmosphere is monotone and the plot drags at times. If you can find a copy, it's worth viewing, I guess, but not for $25. Christophe Gans' Brotherhood of the Wolf (also staring Dacascos) blows this out of the water. By the way, Freeman sheds a tear from time to time, hence the title. I forget what the exact reason was though
it's just his thing.
Review of Crying Freeman
