The Killer 喋血雙雄
A long look 👀 at John Woo 吳宇森’s romantic poem about honour and friendship, starring Chow Yun-fat 周潤發.
Yep, Chow Yun-fat 周潤發 again. I get it, John Woo 吳宇森. I would put him in all my movies too. I would put him in me thankyouverymuch. #chowyunfap
It’s been so surreal to watch these movies as an adult. To be so familiar with them in a way that I don’t even know how, and after years of not really ever giving them much thought. Like, there’s something in my body — in my cells — that finds comfort in all of this, which is hilarious because uh, these movies are so violent. I’ve never held or fired a gun in my life, but oddly enough, I’ve always gravitated toward gun-shaped things/accessories/décor. …Huh. Makes sense now!
Anyway, this is starting to read like a recipe blog. You’re all, “I don’t care! I didn’t come here for this! Gimme the GIFs!” So… just scroll down? It’s not like I’m forcing you at gunpoint to read all this, guys.
Plot summary from IMDb:
A disillusioned assassin accepts one last hit in hopes of using his earnings to restore vision to a singer he accidentally blinded, only to be double-crossed by his boss.
Bahahaha! Already we’re off to an amazing start. Much like the premise, everything about The Killer 喋血雙雄 is outrageous, but in the most entertaining and dazzling way possible. John Woo pulls out all the stops. Bullets, doves, honour, friendship, slow-mo spins and dramatic slides, more bullets, more doves! It’s as poetic as it is violent. I didn’t know about Woo’s love for musicals until recently, so while I once dismissed his movies as gratuitous and cheesy, it all makes perfect sense now. As for CYF, he is at his most ice cold with a heart of gold. No one shoots and suffers better than this guy. No one.
In any case, the movie starts with an eerie calm. Ah Jong (played by Chow Yun-fat 周潤發) sits inside a church with so many candles, you’d think this was the set of a Celine Dion x Prince music video.
Ah Jong isn’t a religious man. Which is good because Commandment #6 would probably be a sticking point, him being a hit man and all. But he finds comfort in the tranquility of the space. I feel like having that many candles around would stress me out. A real fire hazard. Plus I’d be worried about the birds pooping on me.
Armed and ready for his next job, he stops into a nightclub. As he strolls through casually, a lounge singer (Jennie, played by Sally Yeh 葉蒨文) sings sweetly on stage. Sadly, this will be the last time she ever sees properly again, but she doesn’t know that yet.
Suddenly, the music cuts out.
Oh, sheeeeeeeeeit. Ah Jong rolls through the room, double guns blazing, taking everyone out with deadly precision and grace.
I mean, just look at this. Just wow, guys. WOW.
As he leaves the room, he runs into Jennie and almost shoots her, but stops himself in time. She freaks out and starts running away, just as Ah Jong notices the shadow of a gunman around the corner. He chases after her to protect her and as they hit the ground, he manages to kill the guy. But another dude jumps out and shoots him twice in the back. Ah Jong turns around to fire back…
Jennie flails helplessly. Realizing what’s happened, he quickly gets up to help her.
Oof. That opening shootout is truly… a sight to behold. (Sorry, Jennie.) I know, I know. Violence should not be glorified. And it’s not. I mean it is, but also not. Just gotta love that paradox of duality. Or is it irony? Like 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife, or in this case, a gun? As elegant and cool as CYF is when he takes out all these bad guys, it always comes at a price in heroic bloodshed movies. In A Better Tomorrow 英雄本色, Mark Gor 哥 ends up crippled, then killed. Here, an innocent bystander gets blinded, by Ah Jong’s own hands.
Anyhow, Ah Jong makes it back to the church, where he gets the bullets removed from his back. It is no fun. But it is nice to see CYF shirtless and sweaty? #chowyunfap
Jennie recovers, but as we know, her sight is drastically impaired. She’s not totally blind. The doc says she can get new corneas. A policeman, Sgt. Tsang Yeh (played by Kenneth Tsang Kong 曾江, who was also in A Better Tomorrow 英雄本色 as an ex-con), introduces himself and asks if she remembers what the shooter looked like. Jennie freezes, seized by a flash of memory.
She cradles herself. It’s too scary for her to talk about. So… there goes Tsang Yeh’s best lead in the case.
Eventually, Jennie gets back to singing at another lounge. Ah Jong watches from a table near the back, wracked with guilt and rapt by her songs. One night, on her way home, she’s attacked by muggers. Thankfully, Ah Jong has been following her (It’s kinda creepy TBH, but it’s CYF, so we let it go.) and he fights them off.
He escorts Jennie back to her very brightly lit apartment and discovers that she can still see! But she can only make out shapes. Having all the lights on help. He spots his scarf hanging on the coat rack. There are still blood stains on it. She explains that the shooter who blinded her left it behind.
Jennie offers him tea to thank him, and tells him to make himself at home. She then turns the stereo on and plays her own music!? Her apartment is also filled with framed photos of herself from her eye-seeing days — there’s one of her with a tennis trophy, another of her riding a bike. Uh, in love with herself much? No wonder she has no friends!
Meanwhile, Tsang Yeh and his partner, Inspector Li Ying (“Little Eagle 微鷹仔” (“Ying” is “Eagle”), played by Danny Lee 李修賢, who was also in City on Fire 龍虎風雲 as the robber to CYF’s cop), go undercover to get closer to an arms dealer named Wong Hung (“Hung”, played by Wong Kwong-Leung 黃光亮, also in City on Fire 龍虎風雲; he was a detective from the C.I.D.). But the mission gets compromised when a traffic cop, who shows up at the wrong place at the wrong time, gets killed and Li gets made as a cop. Li chases after Hung onto a tram packed full of people. From the back, he spots him hiding out at the front. Hung takes a woman hostage, and Li immediately fires and wounds Hung in the shoulder. His hostage falls to the floor, clutching her heart. Hung tries to spit out an insult, but dies (From a shoulder wound?!) before he can finish.
Li gets reprimanded by CAPO (Complaints Against Police Office) for endangering the lives of everyone on board the tram and for failing to issue a warning before firing. Because of his carelessness, the hostage was literally frightened to death and now her family wants to file a complaint! Li, however, stands by his actions. He had to rely on his intuition. Hung was a psychopath, capable of and prone to murder. He needed to be stopped. Besides, what about the traffic cop’s family?! He couldn’t care less about how CAPO reports this. Every case he works on ends with him being written up anyway! Li is a bit of a loose cannon to say the least.
Ah Jong’s handler, Fung Sei (played by Chu Kong 朱江), stops by his place to discuss a new target: Wong Dong-yu, a man with connections to the Central and South American drug cartel. Ah Jong says he’ll do it for $1.5 million HKD. This will be his last job. Jennie’s eyes are getting worse and if she doesn’t get a cornea transplant soon, she’ll definitely go blind. Running out of time and options, he wants to seek medical care overseas.
At the Dragon Boat festival, several government officials and V.I.P. are in attendance for the Awakening of the Dragon. Tsang Yeh and Li are assigned to protect Wong Dong-yu. Ah Jong — in uh, disguise? I guess? It’s not that great. He just put grey streaks in his hair and got a moustache — takes his position from a speedboat on the water. As the drums start rolling and the hubbub gets louder…
Ah Jong actually shoots his target two more times after the head shot, which feels unnecessary, but maybe because in this world, a shoulder shot is more lethal, so he couldn’t trust that the bullet to the head was enough. (Further investigation reveals that most head shots aren’t guaranteed kills. Only the “T-Box” area is. Huh! This is why I’m not a professional killer who can command $1.5 million HKD. Well, it’s not the only reason. I also lack the core strength to handle the recoil.)
Li spots Ah Jong driving off in his speedboat — not the most inconspicuous getaway. He and Tsang Yeh jump into a boat and go after him. But Ah Jong manages to lose them with some deft boat driving skillz. Like, he just disappears without a trace! Did his speedboat transform into a submarine?! No, he’s just that far ahead and fast. He pulls on to the shore of an island and strolls off his boat. Little does he know, he’s walking into a trap.
But! He gets tipped off when a little girl on the beach notices something glint in the bushes. Sensing trouble, Ah Jong uses the reflection of his sunglasses to confirm the presence of a sniper and he dives out of the way — just in the nick time! Also, he’s not wearing white at all, so you know he’s gonna be fine.
Noticing explosions on the island, Li and Tsang Yeh speed on over. Caught in the barrage of bullets, the little girl gets hit. Li watches Ah Jong scramble over to save her. He takes out the rest of the gunmen as he tries to catch up to Ah Jong, who places the girl into his getaway car and drives off.
Li and Tsang Yeh race after Ah Jong. They spot him from a distance, but Li ain’t worried. He’s got a very strong hunch that Ah Jong is headed to the nearest hospital.
Li is right of course. At the hospital, the doctors immediately get to work. Ah Jong hangs back to watch. He retreats behind a curtain just as the nurse starts asking questions and Li and Tsang Yeh show up. Li spins around the room, pushing curtains aside, but stops as soon as he finds Ah Jong holding a gun to his partner’s head.
When the girl starts to respond to the CPR, Ah Jong takes it as his cue to escape. He peels out of the hospital. Li and Tsang Yeh rush to their car.
Back at police headquarters, Li faces scorn from his superior, Chief Inspector Dou (played by Barry Wong 黃炳耀), over having let their prime suspect evade arrest. He tells Li he better not fuck it up again and to put on a good show — for the both of them. Li is insulted. He will catch the killer. Not because of optics, or pressures from up top. It’ll be because of principles, damnit!
Li then goes to get a police sketch of Ah Jong done.
But I guess he needs an artiste to capture Ah Jong’s essence, because he goes on to describe him rather wistfully:
“He has a manly air about him. He’s different from your average murderer. Very calm. Intelligent. His eyes lively, alert. Full of compassion. Full of passion.”
At this moment though, Ah Jong’s eyes are full of hurt and anguish, thinking about the little girl almost getting killed, and knowing that he was set up to be killed.
He calls Fung Sei and demands his payment for the job. They agree to meet at Ah Jong’s that night. But the writing’s on the wall. Ah Jong knows; Fung Sei knows Ah Jong knows; and Ah Jong knows Fung Sei knows he knows. It’s like when everyone found out about Monica and Chandler, only less jokes and more murder.
Fung Sei meets with the triad boss, Wong Hoi (“Hoi”, played by Shing Fui-on 成奎安, who was also in A Better Tomorrow 英雄本色 as Shing’s righthand man). Hoi doesn’t care about triad rules or codes, he just wants Ah Jong dead. And since he ordered the hit on Wong Dong-yu, who, it turns out, was also his uncle, Hoi doesn’t trust that Ah Jong will keep his mouth shut. Fung Sei says Ah Jong’s not that kind of person, and as his handler, he will deal with the situation. Hoi warns Fung Sei that if he doesn’t, he will deal with him.
Fung Sei arrives, and Ah Jong pats him down, keeping his gun trained on Fung Sei’s face the entire time. He demands to know who wants to kill him, but Fung Sei’s all, the game is the game yo. He hands over the briefcase and Ah Jong lowers his gun onto the table, which Fung Sei immediately snatches and turns on him.
Yay! I mean, noooo, but yay because we get to watch CYF here go through a bunch of emotions all at once. The bitter laughter at discovering that the briefcase is just filled with blank paper; the jolt, the triumph, and the devastation of being proven right about not just his handler, but someone he considered a friend; the despair and disappointment at what he must do after Fung Sei pulls the trigger…
Ah Jong whips out another gun at Fung Sei. This one is definitely loaded. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he sees movement in the reflection of the mirror…
Ah Jong swiftly shoots his way out of the ambush. With all the gunmen dead, he points the gun back at Fung Sei, demanding to know, again, who wants to kill him. Fung Sei doubts he has any bullets left, but Ah Jong tells him he always saves the last bullet — either for someone else or for himself. Oh shit, is this foreshadowing? Will Ah Jong kill himself in the end?! Noooooo. Fung Sei spills that Wong Hoi is behind all this. Satisfied with the answer, Ah Jong starts to walk away. Fung Sei asks if he really did only have one bullet left.
On the other side of the law, Li’s obsession grows.
He figures out that Ah Jong is the same guy from the nightclub shooting and likely still in touch with Jennie. When he and Tsang Yeh wind up at Ah Jong’s place to investigate the crime scene, Li is pumped to find a cassette and framed photo of her on a table. He’s getting closer!
The next day, Li and Tsang Yeh wait for Ah Jong at Jennie’s apartment. This scene is so fun and funny. Li and Ah Jong finally come face-to-face, their guns never leaving each other’s faces, and the entire time, they pretend they’re old friends, even going so far as to make-up nicknames — Li’l B 細B (or Ah B 啊B; “Little Brother” basically) for Li and Shrimphead 蝦頭 for Ah Jong — to keep up the façade and avoid scaring Jennie.
Unfortunately for Li and Tsang Yeh, Ah Jong finds a way to escape. Left alone with them, Jennie demands to know what’s going on. Li tells her the truth about Ah Jong, including that he was the shooter at the nightclub. Jennie is devastated. How could she have been so blind?! Ha ha! *ahem* Anyway, Li informs her that the triad wants him dead and pleads for her to help the police protect him.
Hoi, getting increasingly frustrated by Ah Jong’s unwillingness to die, hires a replacement killer, Paul Yau (played by Yee Fan Wei 王俊棠). Fung Sei begs him to just give Ah Jong the money, but it falls on deaf ears and Hoi drives off. Ah Jong, though, has been quietly waiting around the corner this whole time.
Sadly, Ah Jong runs out of bullets (or his final bullet fails to be fatal) and Wong Hoi does not wear his heart on his shoulder so he survives. Fung Sei chases after Ah Jong. They stop alongside the mountain, where Ah Jong shoves a gun into Fung Sei’s hands, bristling with rage. He’d rather die than have a friend get on his knees and beg on his behalf! Fung Sei bellows that he keeps his promises, and he already feels enough shame for what’s happened. The two lament how the world has changed and how they don’t fit into the ways of the triad anymore. #makeassassinatinggreatagain They hug it out.
At Fung Sei’s house, Ah Jong calls Jennie. She lies that they need to fly out tonight as her doctor has secured a cornea transplant in Singapore. He agrees to meet her at the airport. Fung Sei asks him if he’s really going to go. Ah Jong remarks she’s never lied to him. Noooo. I can’t take any more betrayal, guys!
However, once at the airport, Jennie decides to drop the ruse and starts calling out to Ah Jong, warning him to the presence of police. All good though, because Ah Jong’s already planned for that. He creates a diversion with Fung Sei’s help and fools the cops into going after the wrong guy, allowing him to easily grab Jennie and slip away. Better luck next time, Li!
Except Chief Inspector Dou has had enough. He takes Li off the case, like it’s actually going to stop him from working it, but sure. Tsang Yeh is ordered to follow Fung Sei 24/7. In a parking lot, he watches Fung Sei head to his car, when a car pulls up next to him and…
I don’t know how Tsang Yeh survives that, but he manages to pull himself together enough to chase after Paul while Paul goes after Fung Sei. They swerve through the parking lot, the streets, and the mountain road, shooting at each other and ramming into one another. Eventually, Tsang Yeh drives Paul off the road, and continues pursuing Fung Sei, but his car loses steam and he loses consciousness — but not before taking note of the road Fung Sei disappears into: Horizon Drive №6. Li rushes to the hospital to see him, and Tsang Yeh gives him the address… with his dying breath… R.I.P., Tsang Yeh.
Li races to Horizon Drive №6 on his motorcycle. Paul follows. Meanwhile, Ah Jong, wearing all white (NOOOOOOOO!), packs a bag full of guns. As he and Jennie get ready to leave, Li shows up. But so do Paul and his guys.
Ah Jong tells Li that if he wants to arrest him, they’re gonna have to shoot their way out of this first.
(I’d like to take a moment here to acknowledge and appreciate the change in suits here, for Li in particular. Now that he’s gone rogue, he’s switched from a white suit with dark stripes to a dark suit with light pinstripes. Symbolism! Also! Both Li and Fung Sei — the two men who share any kind of kinship with Ah Jong — are the only ones who don stripes in the movie. Coincidence? I think not! Okay, back to the shootout.)
So they team up to get Jennie away from all the gunfire, and blast through the house and into Ah Jong’s car, leaving behind a whole lotta carnage and destruction. Safe and far away from Paul and his men, Li helps Ah Jong with his wound.
The two men bond over their desire for justice, and being misunderstood and falsely judged by the world. For the first time ever, they each feel seen. Aw! Maybe these BFFs will get to go to Hawaii together this time!
Fung Sei shows up at Hoi’s and requests Ah Jong’s payment. He ain’t begging this time. He surprises Hoi and his men by shooting them, but they take him down and beat the crap out of him. Fung Sei is determined AF though. Fuelled by honour and loyalty to Ah Jong, he fights back.
He takes Hoi hostage and grabs the money. Once outside, he throws the briefcase into the car and goes to shoot Hoi in the back of his head, but *click*, empty, so he has to pistol whip him instead. He drives off with Hoi’s men shooting after him, and chides himself for miscounting his bullets.
As Ah Jong waits for Fung Sei at the church with Jennie and Li, he pulls Li aside and tells him that should anything happen to him, he wants to donate his eyes to Jennie, or at the very least, give her the money to go overseas. Fung Sei arrives with the money, but gets mortally wounded when a few of Hoi’s men barge into the church. Ah Jong is forced to deliver a mercy kill.
Shattered by the loss of his friend, Ah Jong tears through his big bag of guns, hell-bent on revenge. Li tries to convince him to just take Jennie and run, but Ah Jong knows there’s no running away. It won’t end until he ends it.
Ah Jong leaps out and starts firing away. Then, to his absolute surprise and delight, Li jumps in too. A long, blazing and bloody shootout ensues.
Look at these guys working together!
Poor Mary doesn’t make it though.
This is just a small taste of the insane action, guys. My GIF maker crashed like five times because I was trying to capture so much of it. I had to ease off. But man, what a dream and dreamy team.
Unfortunately, Hoi gets a hold of Jennie, and a Mexican standoff occurs. Li tries to gain leverage by taking Paul hostage, but Hoi gives no fucks about Paul and kills him. Ah Jong and Li have no choice but to stand down, though Li still has a gun tucked behind him in his waistband. They lower their weapons, but then…
Yep. Ah Jong gets shot in both eyes.
Li runs after Hoi while Ah Jong and Jennie try to find their way toward each other.
The police arrive at the scene and Hoi surrenders, begging them to take him into custody. But Li is on a war path. He marches toward Hoi and shoots him point blank. Twice.
Fucking. Tragic.
THE END.
JESUS. That is so messed up. And yet, I really love that Woo went there. I’ve been so used to stories where the anti-hero gets redeemed or martyred (e.g., Walter White), which allows you to still admire/justify their violent acts, whereas this, this just hits you with the misery of it all. I do think I need a bit of a palate cleanser though after this. Like, maybe a movie where CYF doesn’t die and maybe even gets to be happy?!
