But this bait should not deter the eye from the switch: Woo is an executive producer. The name of John Woo, the talented Hong Kong-school director of the hit Face/Off, is plastered around The Big Hit. The Big Hit has all these elements, and none are top-of-the-line. That, experience shows, is the proper season for movies built on a foundation of lavish crime, carnage, comedy, chases, crashes and chicks. The New York Times' Lawrence Van Gelder was equally scathing: "If The Big Hit had any valid claim to excellence, rest assured that its release would have been delayed till summer. ![]() You would have to be seriously alienated from normal human values and be nursing a deep-seated anger against movies that make you think even a little, but you could laugh." Remarked Roger Ebert, "I guess you could laugh at this. Jack Matthews commented in the Los Angeles Times that " The Big Hit, which was brought to Wesley Snipes' production company by Hong Kong legend John Woo, attempts to take the East-West merger even further, and the result is an only fitfully funny comic mongrel." The Big Hit had a mixed reception from critics. It went on to gross $27.0 million domestically. The film debuted at #1 at the box office. The Big Hit was shot for the relatively low budget of $13 million and was produced by film partners John Woo, Terence Chang, and Wesley Snipes. Melvin and Keiko are reunited and ride off together, while Nishi recoups his losses by making a film out of the story of his daughter's kidnapping. Soon Melvin is revealed to have survived, sheltered from the blast by an enormous solid gold film stand-up made for the flop that destroyed Nishi's career. Paris and Nishi, believing Melvin to be dead, call off the manhunt. He re-enters the building, which explodes. Melvin leaves the building and is confronted by Keiko, her father and Paris. Melvin kills Cisco by stabbing him in the chest, but not before Cisco arms an explosive device. In the chaos, Melvin happens to run into Chantel and finally takes the opportunity to stand up to her and end their relationship.Ī fight ensues between Cisco and Melvin, culminating at a video store where the ever-honest Melvin stops to return an overdue tape of King Kong Lives. Melvin and Keiko's growing feelings for each other lead them to forming an awkward romance, and she and Melvin attempt to escape from the fiasco, pursued by Cisco. Ordered by Paris to discover the kidnappers of his goddaughter, a panicked Cisco kills Gump, but not before coaxing him into also implicating Melvin for the kidnapping.Ī team of assassins crash Melvin's dinner with Pam's family, leading to a shootout during which Melvin realizes Pam was going to break up with him over pressure from her mother, a hardcore Jew who is severely against her being with Melvin, a Gentile. In the ensuing hours they build up a rapport preparing dinner together, an act which leads into a love scene reminiscent of the pottery scene from Ghost, but which is cut short when Keiko attempts to escape. Melvin feels sorry for Keiko and relieves her from her bondage. ![]() Enlisted by the group to hold Keiko, Melvin has to hide the bound and gagged schoolgirl on his property, attempting to keep her presence hidden from Pam and her parents, who are coming for dinner. Unfortunately, the team does not realize that Nishi has recently gone bankrupt over his failed foray into films and furthermore, their boss Paris is the girl's godfather. ![]() Perhaps as a result of his helplessness in asserting himself, throughout the early scenes, Melvin is often seen drinking Maalox to relieve a developing stress-induced ulcer.įeeling underpaid for their work for mob boss Paris, the assassin team of Smiley, Cisco, Crunch, Vince and Gump take an independent job, kidnapping Keiko Nishi, the teenage daughter of local electronics magnate Jiro Nishi, for a hefty ransom. Melvin is somewhat of a pushover, trying to appease all of Chantel's demands, even her most expensive wishes, as well as rolling over whenever one of his co-workers takes credit for his achievements. One is with the demanding and demeaning Chantel, who does not accept his work, and the other with Pam, who knows nothing of his job. ![]() Melvin Smiley has a good life thanks to his talents as a contract-killer, but has a very working class mentality going about his life, in combination with his constant struggles to maintain two romantic relationships. The film was shot in Hamilton and Pickering, Ontario, Canada. The Big Hit is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Che-Kirk Wong, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Bokeem Woodbine, Antonio Sabàto Jr., China Chow, Avery Brooks, Lainie Kazan, Elliott Gould, Sab Shimono and Lela Rochon.
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