Hong Kong action star Chow Yun-Fat makes his Hollywood debut in smashing style. But anyone who has seen Yun-Fat’s imported works knows that he is the coolest, most charismatic, machismo persona to grace the screen since Charles Bronson. There’s not much plot; just your razor thin revenge scenario that pits Yun Fat’s hit man against Chinatown’s maniacal crime lord in a ballet of blazing bullets. Mira Sorvino (pleasantly overexposing her belly) tags along as Yun-Fat’s rough and tumble, but reluctant side kick. She blends into the genre effortlessly, though at times her loquacious tongue detracts from Yun-Fat’s seething silence. Coolio videographer Antoine Fuqua frames Yun-Fat in slick style and his choreography of the slo-mo shoot-outs is worthy of comparison to those of the film’s executive producer, John Woo.
