Bullet For Hire: Quick Takes

You initially think Bullet For Hire is going to be a cops vs. assassins movie, with Elaine Lui at center for the former crowd but director Yuen Chun Man turns almost completely away and goes the route of staying with the gangsters instead. Since this is not a particularly deep exploration of brotherhood and loyalty, the choice of "siding" with the outlaws seems ill-fitted. Then again, if you want your Hong Kong gunplay movies fair and balanced, you really shouldn't be watching anything out of the genre explosion in the 80s and 90s. Yuen Chun Man does have enough knowledge about what sells and while the gunplay isn't stylistically great, he really bathes the screen in blood. Not even the smallest ones are spared from neck breaks, chainsaws and the crew loaded up a good chunk of blood for the frequent squib effects as well. It attempts certain things, poorly, but Bullet For Hire delivers its selling points dependently. One note of acknowledgement I do want to point out is the inclusion of comedy that for once fits the situations rather than being tacked on and exaggerated as per usual. That is until some of the black humour enters, then it's the ill-fit again... Also starring Simon Yam, Jacky Cheung, Lo Lieh and Dick Wei.