The Killer Has No Return (1996)
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殺手三分半鐘 (1996)
The Killer Has No Return


Reviewed by: Gaijin84
Date: 02/27/2025
Summary: Inferior Fallen Angels copycat...

Jeffrey Chiang’s “The Killer Has No Return” is unfortunately an unoriginal and highly derivative work that apes Wong Kar Wai’s influential Fallen Angels. The uncharismatic Wong Hei plays an assassin who has been hired to kill a shady businessman in Malaysia, where a vast majority of the movie is shot. While scouting locations for his attempt, he meets a pretty bar girl named Jenny (Lee Siu-Mei) and they become involved, despite his worry of her getting caught up in his work. All this while, there is a second assassin (Yu Rongguang) stalking Wong in order to prevent the contract from being completed. A series of twists reveal that Wong’s father’s mistress also lives in Malaysia and the local scene, seeking closure for her past once she realizes who Wong is.

If the plot sounds complicated, it is, and is probably not worth multiple viewings to understand what is going on. None of the cast involved are particularly good actors, and the action is limited and stale. Both Wong and Yu fire off hundreds of shots, with barely any finding their mark and most appearing as poorly placed squibs being detonated. The director, Chaing, impersonates Wong Kar Wai’s choppy, blurry handheld camera techniques to such a degree that it almost appears to be a tribute film. Even the plot is similar enough to warrant an investigation. The ending even manages to rip off, to a lesser degree, John Woo’s “The Killer.” For the most part, the only interesting tidbits are the locations in Malaysia and a couple of initial action scenes in Hong Kong bars. Otherwise avoid in favor of the multitude of classics you may have missed.

Reviewer Score: 5

Reviewed by: hkcinema
Date: 12/08/1999

Malay Chinatown's Yu Yi restaurant was helding Mr. Shek's weddingbanquet, Chinese Mr. Lui attended with wealthy merchant Mr. Hung. With the banquet begins, Mr. Lui begins a special religious ceremony, like the gods appeasement ceremonies in ancient China. In the midst of the cereomny, assassin Wa only has three and a half minutes to aim at the groom Mr. Shek. Gunshots ring out, but the person shot is actually Mr. Hung. As Wah is shocked by this occurrence, he notices another assassin leaving nearby, the two begin to go head to head. Later, Wah suddenly becomes the assassin who killed Mr. Hung and a fugitive from the Malay police......

[Reviewed by Next Magazine]








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