capsule : perversely entertaining hong kong action with the god of gamblers himself , chow yun-fat . mira sorvino ain't bad either , but the main attraction is the movie's glossy look . chow yun-fat commands the screen the way very few actors do , no matter where they're from . see him in the dozens of other movies he's done for the hong kong studios ( and hang yourself if you haven't seen him in john woo's masterpieces the killer and hard-boiled ) . he is one of the few cult-movie figures who lives up to and beyond the hype . in the replacement killers , he strides onscreen as if just coming in from another hk production without losing a beat . hk fan that i am , i held my breath in anticipation of this movie for quite some time . the replacement killers was designed to be chow's big u . s . debut vehicle , but it also serves as the debut for director antoine fuqua ( whose only previous directorial job was the " gangster's paradise " video for coolio ) . both director and actor have veteran confidence in this movie , which helps to buoy it all up out of the routine and into the realm of the special . the plot is not the main attraction . chow plays a hitman who crumbles when faced with the prospect of having to ice a policeman , and decides to flee the country . to that end , he enlists mira sorvino's character -- a tattooed forgery artist who lives in an apartment that looks like a close cousin to the one j . f . sebastian inhabited in blade runner . then bad guys with tons of firepower come gunning for both of them , and they have to hit the road . fuqua knows his hk action staples . the movie is saturated with highly choreographed violence . the whole movie glows and glitters : shattering glass , guns blazing , false-color shots from * inside * a gun as a round is chambered . sparks shoot as high-tension lines give when bodies fall on them . metal crumples as cars slam into each other , reflecting the moody green-and-yellow lighting in an underground parking garage . sunglasses glint . put simply , if you don't like movies where these things all figure in abundance , stay home . if you do , buy three copies . you'll wear them all out soon enough . chow and sorvino's characters do not like each other very much -- it's hard to like someone who seems to be responsible for getting your place torched -- but they form a mutual respect which is credible on-screen , and work together to get themselves out of trouble . there's also a good supporting role by michael rooker ( remember him from henry : portrait of a serial killer ? ) as a cop who tries to put everything together from the outside , and yet another wonderfully stolid bad-guy role courtesy of jurgen prochnow . the replacement killers is all surface , but it's a wonderful surface to look at . good show all around . now let's see chow -- and fuqua -- in something a little more substantial . i * know * chow can handle it . 
