The Replacement Killers

Welcome to America, Mr. Yun-Fat. That's Chow Yun-Fat, an icon to aficionados of Hong Kong cinema (he is to director John Woo what Robert De Niro is to Martin Scorsese). Chow stars as a conflicted killer who balks at assassinating the child of the cop who killed a mobster's drug-dealing son. Needing to flee the country, he hooks up with document forger Mira Sorvino, who is as resourceful with computers and hard-boiled wisecracks as she is with firearms. Music video director Antoine Fuqua knows all the right moves of visceral Asian-style action, and fans will revel in the slow-mo mayhem and gun battles, but the soul and character complexity of, say, Woo's best native films, seems to have been lost in the translation. More essential Chow Yun-Fat films accessible on video are Hard-Boiled, The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. An optional purchase. (K. Lee Benson)[DVD Review—Apr. 18, 2006—Sony, 96 min., not rated, $19.95—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1998's The Replacement Killers (Extended Cut) features an excellent transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. DVD extras include eight additional minutes, the 20-minute featurette “Chow Yun-Fat Goes Hollywood,” a 10-minute “making-of” featurette, and trailers. Bottom line: since this was released two years ago as a “Special Edition,” which included all of the same features as this disc plus audio commentaries, deleted scenes, and an alternate ending, this release of a so-so action thriller seems somewhat pointless.]