| The Killing Man (1994) Cast:Jeff Wincott, Michael Ironside,Terri Hawkes Jeff Wincott stars as a doublecrossed assassin who wakes up in a government run hospital while there Mr.Green (Ironside) lets him know that he is legally dead and that he will now start working for the government to take down political targets and "anyone who means this country harm" of course along the way he starts to think that he perhaps maybe doublecrossed again in this grim yet captivating actioner. The Killing Man is a movie that I seriously needed to see after a recent stream of crappers starring Wesley Snipes and Steven Seagal. It restored my faith in the genre, that indeed once in awhile a good movie can come out of nowhere. The Killing Man is an unbelievably bleak and mean spirited actioner but all the same, I admire it due to the overall ambition taken with it's premise. The Killing Man may indeed be the first movie ever to feature an assassin who isn't remorseful for his actions and only doublecrosses his superior out of fear of a doublecross. Indeed when Wincott kills a gay activist or muck-raking reporter, Wincott's stoic demeanor hints at something so sinister that one easily buys into the fact that this guy will kill his own mother. Of course the shocking thing turns out to be that The Killing Man works as a character study and it manages to peak our interests outside of the actionscenes. Indeed while the fightscenes are gritty and realistic (Wincott abandons his usual stylish fury) and well staged, the real gripping moments come from the interactions from Wincott and Ironside as they talk rather calmly about killing their next target. Indeed when Wincott is ordered to kill his own ex-girlfriend and tells her to get out of town, the surprise waiting for him gives off a brutal kick to the movie that shows that Ironside is a man not to mess with and is near impossible to elude. Even the ending is grim and set up for a downbeat conclusion which makes it all the more fascinating. D.David Mitchell*** |