The film opens quite impressively, with the assassination of a rich Japanese business man; the killer is good, having basically outsmarted and defeated a whole building full of bodyguards. Then we meet up with Fu (Li), a seemingly quite nice but cash-poor ex-soldier whom we find in the strange company of a gang of young assassins for hire. There's never really an adequate explanation for how he got in this unexpected business. Anyway, he's looked down upon because he has never really done a job. When he gets wind of a $100 million reward for the capture and murder of the man soon to be known as The King of Assassins, he tries to infiltrate the proceedings. There, he meets up with a con man named Norman (Eric Tsang), who for some unclear reason brings Fu to the meeting with him and tells him he will be his new agent. Fu is an unlikely choice for such a big job, and his first test shows clearly that he does not really have the heart of a cold-blooded killer. Still, he stays with Tsang and mixes it up with some major league assassins and criminals in an attempt to find the killer and claim the reward. There isn't a whole lot of action until the final third of the film, and only one scene stands out in terms of its impressiveness and length. The identity of the King of Killers did come as a surprise to me, although I'm sure it will be obvious to some. The end of the film, I might add, only further exacerbates my problem with the movie's concept; Fu's occupation just doesn't jive with the character's personality.

This is apparently as much of a comedy as it is an action film, thanks largely to Eric Tsang's character Norman the agent. You can't help but like the guy, especially given the fact that he doesn't seem cut out for the whole business of contract killing; he is pretty funny for the most part, but he does ham it up a bit much in several scenes. I think Jet Li did a fine job of acting here, but the character of Fu is by no means one of his better roles; Fu is just too vague and self-contradictory in nature. This is not really a martial arts film, I might add. There are several hand-to-hand contests, a couple of them involving a bad guy equipped with blinding light beams on his fingers and boots, but this is more of an action flick that just so happens to feature a few kung fu type encounters.

Hitman does offer a good view of Jet Li in the time period immediately preceding his jump to American movie stardom, and the contrast between this particular Hong Kong film and his American films is rather striking. Hitman is probably best suited for Jet Li fans because the movie itself just doesn't seem to click on all cylinders.


Fantastic   November 9, 2001
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

This is an excellent Jet li film, a must for all fans. It has a nice sense of humour within the movie and aslo contains excellent fight coreography. It certainly shows a wide range of Jets abilities. I personally love the film, Its story is very well set up and also very interresting, fight scenes are very well intergrated within the story and film. THe final fight sequence is a must.


A must see for all jet li fans,this is one cool film.   October 1, 2001
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

After reading some of the reviews for hitman i was amazed that some of the jet li fans did not rate this film.Get real this movie ooze's style,it's got a good plot,great action and some cool fight scenes,funny moments and the last fight scene is well played out by all concerned. All in all hitman is one hell of a film.


one to miss   August 14, 2001
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

As I own most of jets films I can say Hitman is a disappointing film. Jet plays a low key character who is hired buy a business man played by Eric Tsang, when a owner of a top company get murdered there is a huge reward money for the identity of the killer.

I don't think much of fight scenes because they either don't last long or there aren't enough of them.

If you're a fan of jet li then buy it but over wise i would look somewhere else. If you want Jet Li best film then buy fist of legend...


ok but not more   June 16, 2001
 1 out of 7 found this review helpful

Well, I just bought this DVD because of Jet Li's Martial Art skills I've seen in 'Romeo must die'. Unfortunatly I have to say that there is not that much action in 'Hitman' and that the picture is not always as good as it should be. Ok for Jet Li fans but the others better get 'Romeo must die' or 'Crouching tiger hidden dragon' (the best fight scenes I've ever seen, and a very good story)!