The Replacement Killers (1998)
Directed by Antoine Fuqua
Hired assassin John Lee is asked by Chinatown crime boss Terence Wei to murder the young son of policeman Stan Zedkov. Lee has the boy in his sights, but his conscience gets the better of him, and he spares the child's life. Afraid that Wei will take revenge on his family in China, Lee seeks out expert forger Meg Coburn to obtain the passport he needs to get out of the country, but a band of replacement killers is soon on his trail.
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What critics compared The Replacement Killers to
Like Luc Besson’s “La Femme Nikita” or Antoine Fuqua’s “The Replacement Killers,” what absorbs the viewer is the film’s very texture and sense of technique, combined with violence that feels like blood-soaked ballet.
It’s “Old Boy” meets “The Fountain,” or “Her” channeled through “The Replacement Killers.”
Director Antoine Fuqua of "The Replacement Killers" once again evokes a strong visually compelling style to go with this very powerful screenplay written by David Ayer ("The Fast and the Furious").
Directed by flashy Antoine Fuqua ( "Bait," "The Replacement Killers" ), "Training Day" thrives on the strengths of its two stars, who play beautifully the unbalanced dynamic of their mutual distrust.
Director Antoine Fuqua ("The Replacement Killers") takes to the streets of South Central, Watts, Inglewood, and the Imperial Courts housing project to give his film authenticity, but screenwriter David Ayer ("The Fast and the Furious") trots out too much evil to believably comprehend within his dawn to dead-of-night structure.
The direction by Antoine Fuqua is exactly what you would expect from his filmography – “The Replacement Killers” and “Bait.”
Director Antoine Fuqua takes a major step forward from his debut action film, The Replacement Killers, thanks mostly to the casting.
Director Antoine Fuqua ("The Replacement Killers," "Bait" ) knows the film rides on the shoulders of Washington, and he's comfortable with that.
With this film, it is hard to believe that the Training Day director is the same man who also made the lukewarm The Replacement Killers and the derivatively idiotic Bait .
His first two movies, The Replacement Killers and Bait, were almost too flashy and action-packed - while his last film, Training Day, contained showy visuals without sacrificing story and characters.
Director Antoine Fuqua has made some stinkers in his time (The Replacement Killers, Entrapment) but he seems to be improving of late – he directed Denzel Washington to his Best Actor Oscar in Training Day and with Tears of the Sun he delivers a competent, Friday night thriller that is thankfully light on sentimental, Gung Ho, God Bless America-type jingoism, despite the best efforts of a Hans Zimmer Score Of Subtlety.
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King Arthur has none of the distinctive snap of Fuqua's The Replacement Killers and Training Day; his style has been flattened out beneath the weight of signature Bruckheimer touches like the hero doing a grim-faced, slo-mo walk toward the camera away from a wall of fire.
But, his other films are half-baked, quasi-pretentious action epics (The Replacement Killers, Tears of the Sun), and King Arthur fits right in with those.