Why The Big Hit?
It's a low budget action flick from the late 90's starring Mark Wahlberg (Marky Mark) before he was actually accredited as an actor. Currently it sits on Rotten Tomatoes with 38/100 but frankly I think the critics missed the tone of the film. I've only spoken to a few people that enjoy the film on the same level as myself. It's directed by Kirk Wong who really hasn't done all that much since The Big Hit so I doubt you've heard of him. I'm sure lots of people see it in the action section and walk right past but this one is worth picking up.
So what's the plot?
A foursome of full-time hit men looking to score extra cash accidentally kidnap the wrong person. One of them, Melvin Smiley (Mark Wahlberg), ends up taking the fall for the crime and he also falls for the kidnapping victim too.
So why should I watch it?
Frankly I think the critics completely missed out on the tone of this film. It's not meant to be taken seriously as an action film like the Bourne series. It's got genuine moments of hilarity due to never taking itself too seriously, hell there's a minor subplot about a guy who just learned how to jerk off because "[he]'s been fuckin' since [he] was 10!" The action scenes are certainly over the top (it's produced by John Woo) but are still exciting.
When it came out Mark Wahlberg wasn't taken seriously as an action at all so it was easy to dismiss his film as something for the plebs. However I think since The Departed Mark Wahlberg has some more respect to revisiting his older films shouldn't be out of the question. But that's not all, it's got an impressive cast. You've got Ben Sisko as a fucking crime lord talking about "bustin' caps!" Kristina Applegate, from Married with Children is in it, Lou Diamond Phillips, who's awesome and you know it, plays the principle antagonist, Lainie Kaza and Elliott Gould playing the humerously stereotypical Jewish parents of Applegate's character (but this is fine because they're actually Jewish). Finally it's got the steamy dreamboat Antonio Sabàto, Jr. :allears:
How do you rank it doctor 7?
Currently it sits in my "Good" tier on Criticker with a score of 77/100 (so 8/10 I suppose).
This movie is so silly and fun it's great. There are some absolutely stellar parts in the film I'll never forget. Never, ever take this movie seriously and you will have an unbelievably fun time.
Criticker Review Link
Previous Overlooked Films:
Citizen Duane (9/10) | Open Range (9/10) | Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (7/10)
