The Replacement Killers
Columbia Pictures | Release Date: February 6, 1998 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
42
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 22 Critic Reviews
Positive:
3
Mixed:
15
Negative:
4
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
It's a high-gloss version of a Hong Kong action picture, made in America but observing the exuberance of a genre where surfaces are everything. Read full review
70
Dallas ObserverAndy Klein
Fuqua has done an admirable job staging the action scenes, but the script is little more than a thin framework to justify those scenes. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
The plot is so thin that it's not really worth thinking about, but director Antoine Fuqua and cinematographer Peter Lyons Collister have put so much effort into the feel and appearance of the movie that it held my attention. Read full review
60
Chicago ReaderLisa Alspector
Despite the practical nature of the costars' bond, I spent most of the lukewarm actioner wondering when the hell they were going to start kissing. Read full review
60
EmpireAngie Errigo
It's just like a spectacularly excessive and melodramatically daft Cantonese crime opus, but in English, with a thumpingly trendy soundtrack. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
This melodramatic action opera is a lurid love letter to the guns and poses aesthetic of Hong Kong action cinema. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
The movie they have concocted has the feel of a visual sampler or an elaborate color swatch submitted for a design that remains largely unexecuted. Read full review
50
SlateDavid Edelstein
Hong Kong action fans hoping for spontaneous combustion from the American debut of superstar Chow Yun-Fat might want to turn their weapons on the producers. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Between cycles of gunfights and glowering, Yun-Fat displays some of the dignity and suave good looks that account for his star status (without much chance to show his wit). Read full review
50
VarietyLeonard Klady
This mechanical effort is studied rather than heartfelt and will disappoint aficionados and thwart potential fans. Read full review
50
Film ThreatTom Meek
Coolio videographer Antoine Fuqua frames Yun-Fat in slick style and his choreography of the slo-mo shoot-outs is worthy of comparison to those of the film's executive producer, John Woo. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
The Replacement Killers has a plot -- barely -- but no story. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleEdward Guthmann
It's beautifully shot by first-time feature director Antoine Fuqua, whose eye for sensual surfaces, deft camera moves and elegant framing was refined with commercials and music videos Read full review
50
San Francisco ExaminerWalter Addiego
A counterfeit of a Woo movie, even though Woo himself co-produced it. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
The story has more violence than brains, but Hong Kong action star Chow makes an interestingly moody impression in his first Hollywood role. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleRussell Smith
To put it as kindly as possible, Fuqua is a well-intended tyro who wrongly assumes that his obvious love for action movies qualifies him to make them himself. Read full review
40
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Forgettable the instant it strafes your retinas. Read full review
40
The New YorkerSarah Kerr
In the more anonymous American setting, and without the mad conviction of a director like John Woo, all the choreographed murder feels dull, poorly paced, and, come to think of it, pretty demented. Read full review
38
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Rick Groen
A plot so thin you could filter coffee through it. Read full review
30
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Chow has a future in a America if given better material with which to work; here, he's wasted in a movie that's forgotten 20 minutes after the credits roll. Read full review
30
Washington PostRita Kempley
Adolescents are too grown-up for this blasted nonsense. Read full review
0
L.A. WeeklyManohla Dargis
Pure junk. Read full review
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