Underworld opera of the bravura kind, this is driven, like most Hong Kong action, more by emotion than logic.
80
Film ThreatEric Campos
Film ThreatEric Campos
Exciting, but not completely original.
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
New York PostV.A. Musetto
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.
63
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Boston GlobeTy Burr
Filmed with panache, wit, chic amorality, and an inexhaustible supply of Micro Uzi ammunition, ''Killer'' nevertheless represents a baroque dead end for the Hong Kong action genre.
60
Village VoiceDennis Lim
Village VoiceDennis Lim
There's plenty to enjoy -- in no small part thanks to Lau.
The film is filled with the kind of choreographed carnage that became synonymous with Hong Kong action during the genre's heyday, but there's an elegiac self-consciousness to it all that acknowledges that while the best is behind us, there's still something to be said about its passing.
60
VarietyDerek Elley
VarietyDerek Elley
High-octane plunge into pop gangster psychology.
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story matters less than the style, full of swooping camera movements, rapid-fire editing, and color-drenched displays of violence the Hong Kong school is famous for.
50
Film ThreatTim Merrill
Film ThreatTim Merrill
On the whole this is pretty standard shoot-‘em-up fare. Bang, crash, boom -- yawn.