The Hitman (1991)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Chuck Norris is one of cinema's best fighters who has a very distinctive and badass look. His beard is one of those traits. One of the more popular Chuck Norris jokes is "underneath Chuck Norris' beard, there's not chin just another fist." Whomever created that joke must not have seen any of his earlier films, because there are three different kinds of Chuck Norrises: smooth-faced, moustached and bearded. I mentioned this in two other Chuck Norris reviews for An Eye For An Eye (smooth-faced Norris' best) and Forced Vengeance (moustache-Norris' best). Now I am saying that The Hit-man is bearded-Norris' best. Eventually, I will do a review of The Delta Force: THE Best Chuck Norris flick. The Hit-man has a very unoriginal premise as a presumed dead cop (Norris) assumes a new identity and seeks vengeance against the bad guys. They try to make the story more complex and interesting, but winds up with utter confusion. In order to really get this, you have to be a huge action fan and/or a huge Chuck Norris fan. I am these, as well as a huge general movie fan, so I may have gone easy in seeing this. The acting isn't that great, the story is average and they fail at adding subplots with rival mob families and triads. Luckily, there is great action and has a great look that makes this a really fun watch.Just what makes this better than any other bearded-Norris film? Although the acting isn't that great, it is truly awesome when compared to a mega crappy Norris movie like Silent Rage. This was around the time that Norris was improving as an actor by growing from terrible to average. One of the subplots is he befriends a young Hispanic neighbour whose mother works several jobs. He is constantly chased by a Caucasian bully whom he always runs from. Norris teaches him self-defence, as well as facing his problems. He tells him a story of growing up near a Native reserve in Arizona and a big Native would constantly chase him until he was convinced to face him. He realizes it was the differences such as his hair being too light and skin being too pale that he didn't like. This is a true story that actually did happen to Norris. This is probably the best bit of acting that Chuck Norris ever did. It is also great words of wisdom that comes from his heart.Because we get to know the characters so well, it adds a lot to the story and makes the action sequences all that more exciting.

I wasn't expecting anything spectacular. Chuck Norris has only made one movie that I really enjoyed (Code of Silence), and there is no one else's name in the movie that grabbed my attention. It seems as if have the people involved are named Norris. :-) Actually, this was a testosterone fest. None of these mobsters in the film seemed to have girlfriends or wives. If you are going to do an undercover cop movie with mobsters, it can't be family friendly. This film, although rated "R", was as tame as an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.The only satisfaction was seeing Michael Parks get his due, but you knew that was going to happen from the beginning.

Nearly every film that Norris starred in from the mid 80s through to the 90s was under the production company 'Cannon'. Is that a bad thing? No not really, as long it delivered on the goods that we expected. They were mainly cheap, but quite violent and senseless entertainment. However there's something about "The Hit-man" that makes me think much more highly of it than I probably should. It passes the time, but this Norris actioner provides a solidly calm performance, which is maybe his best or actually most suited. His beard is in full flight, but he also sports a gratuitous mullet and dangerous looking trench coat. It's definitively my favourite of those mainstream humdingers that he was chalking up through the measly 90s. Norris' brother Aaron (who directed Chuck in some other flicks) was in the director's chair and this would be his most accomplished piece. The premise is transparently black n white (if vague), but it's the calculatingly dark, risky and lean tone which I fancied. It kind of reminded me of J. Lee Thompson's "Death Wish 4: The Crackdown (1987)". Sure it can get over-sentimental with a flabby and pointless subplot involving a 'young nice boy' living next door to Norris. But this plot device (in a surprisingly story-bound presentation) gives Norris' character a humane element to counter-pouch that cold, fearless nature driving him to complete his job. Amongst this moral interruption, it can be rather offensively racist, mean-spirited and brutal in its staged barbaric violence that's broken out in the crime underworld. As double crossings, secret meetings and vicious set-ups plague the get-up. It doesn't really focus on Norris' martial arts abilities, as it doesn't get much of a show-in with him preferring to use his punishing shotgun. Get ready for a bloody onslaught with smarting wise-cracks! Aaron Norris' hardboiled direction is brisk, gritty and accordingly sombre in its grungy atmospheric charges leaking from such moodily shot-on locations. Some rousing suspense can be detected too. Joel Derouin's music score really does skew back to those saucily cruising, but uneasy jazz scores of the 70s. The support cast offer able assistance with their parts. Michael Parks memorably nasty, thuggery performance is a blast whenever his on screen. An edgy, hard-hitting Norris entry that at least tries be something a little more different.

Just out of Soviet fear and the Cold War we were in 1992. Modern American cowboy films had to invent another enemy. Simple recipe: Italian mafia, French mafia, and Iranian mafia, all three together. And there you are. The only place possible is Seattle and Vancouver. The Italians are in Seattle. The French (Canadians) are in Vancouver. And the Iranians are invading with the help of a rotten ex-cop turned drug-lordlet. All that is by far too much and too many. So many will have to be eliminated. What's more there is the ghost of an officially dead cop playing the double agent, and he was officially killed by the rotten ex-cop turned drug-lordlet. And the ghost will finally meet face to face with this drug-lordlet and the latter will be turned into mid-air minced meat, after the three other gangs had mutually been eliminated one after the other by one of the others. The ghost only came for the last harvest of cadavers. It is strange how these modern time cowboy films are little creative. It is all defined within the limits of a shooting posture and a noisy exchange of bullets.Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine & University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne