Country: Hong Kong
Genre: Action/ Bullet Ballet / Romance
Director: Veronica Chan
Year: 1994
Rating: 
TRASH CINEMA RECOMMENDED MOVIE
A Taste Of Killing And Romance is one of those ridiculous Hong Kong movies about “nice” assassins. In the opening sequence, we witness Ko Shao (Andy Lau) coldbloodedly kill a car full of people, blowing up the car for good measure, even though he was only paid to kill one of the passengers. But Ko Shao isn’t really such a bad guy. After all, he discusses his vocation with a preacher buddy, who advises him that even killers need love. Natch, he also gives away the money he makes by killing people to charity.
Then we meet Yu Feng (the adorable Anita Yuen), who was raised by another priest. She kills people to raise money for an orphanage.
Of course, these two miscreants meet cute. When they court, they frolic around like two kittykats. It’s adorable, but obviously the filmmakers aren’t too concerned about believability.
In yet another coincidence, the two lovebirds work for the same outfit, headed up by Ice (Christine Ng), who runs an art gallery as a cover. (Sample dialog from Ice: “Oh, you like that painting? Sorry, it’s already sold, but we have many more like it.”) Semi-retired killer Wong Cheong (Mark Cheng) assists her.
When Andy Lau’s character, Ko Shao, fails to kill his target because he was too busy saving a toddler from a falling scaffold, he himself becomes targeted for elimination by Wong Cheong. You see, the Organization has a Zero Tolerance policy for failure. Assassins who fail to kill their targets must be eliminated. Oh, and by the way, the policy requires the death of everyone the failed assassin cares about, as well.
So, the stage is set for a series of kill or be killed action scenes.
Have I made A Taste Of Killing And Romance sound like a complete load of crap? Well, it really isn’t. Sure, the script by Cheuk Bing makes it really hard to care about the characters because they’re so out of whack in terms of reality, but there are other compensations.
For one thing, A Taste Of Killing And Romance is beautifully filmed by Veronica Chan, especially the action sequences. Her blocking and the way she moves the camera is a joy. The lead actors are terrific, too. Anita Yuen and Andy Lau are really cute together. Mark Cheng is enjoyable loathesome as Wong Cheong. At one point, he kills an old woman and a toddler, which is kind of heartrending. Then he spots the old lady’s dog and stuffs it into a washing machine. By now, the killing spree has become funny, but you still hate the guy. At one point, when it seems obvious that he has vanquished our heroes, he indulges in some over the top gloating.
All of this is fairly entertaining, but Veronica Chan saves the best for last. Somehow, in despite of the absurdity of the premise, we have come to care about our heroes and heartily loathe the villains, so we care what happens. Director Veronica Chan skillfully manipulates our emotions, gives us a kickass action sequence, and then takes A Taste Of Killing And Romance to another level with one of my favorite Hong Kong endings. It’s classic, even if the rest of the film isn’t.
Too bad this was director Veronica Chan’s only film. She could have been a major action stylist, Hong Kong’s answer to America’s Kathryn Bigelow.
If you found this post helpful, share it by clicking on one of these icons!
« Lakeview Terrace - A Racism Passion Play | Home | Mister Foe - A Boy Who Really Loves His Mother »
Related posts:
- Long Arm Of The Law III - Unexpected Hat Trick
- Protege - Drugs, Lies and Audiotape
- Invisible Target - Bombs, Guns, and Glass
- Walk On Fire - Comedic Drama, Not Thrills
- Drunken Master III - How To Lose 90 Minutes Of Your Life