Seriously, I found the assassin to be cartoonishly silly, with his ultra slow movements and spectacularly elaborate attempts to kill John Wayne. I mean, an exploding toilet? And what was that bizarre game of chicken at the end? Who trained this guy, Dr. Evil? Whatever happened to walking up behind him and putting two in the noggin? I was looking closely at his equipment to see if the "ACME" brand name was anywhere in sight. Sheesh.
shareVery true.
What made it worse was the dumb theme they kept playing whenever he appeared. It was a kind of "crunch-pause-crunch-pause-crunch" the first time I was trying to figure out what the SFX was meant to be, somebody breaking in? walking on spilt corn flakes?
We have to put the blame squarely on both the direction and editing which muffed any chance of building suspense and made him look both dumb and cruel in one scene - he arrives to pick up his payment which is "light" - the guy claims it's his "usual commission" and suggests he enjoy the girl instead, then takes another couple of twenties from the bundle as he walks out, then the bad guy grabs the girl by the throat (I guess as a kind of rough sex thing, but who knows, it's all left dangling).
McQ is a far superior film, since it stays on familiar ground and features an early appearance by the deadly MAC10!!
Don't touch that!
Why Not?
It does very bad things...
I remember thinking the hit man resembled Harry Calahan... perhaps a sort of in-joke?
share"...then the bad guy grabs the girl by the throat (I guess as a kind of rough sex thing, but who knows, it's all left dangling)."
I laughed at the "...dangling..." bit of your post Zipper69. Maybe it explains why Lesley Anne Down looks a bit scared of the hitman...Or maybe, why she's disappointed by him. LOL!
They had rough sex.
When he grabbed her throat, she says that ""she's not kinky" and her menacingly replies, "You'll be what ever you're paid to be."
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Sig Line:
Many cynics and skeptics mistake their hubris negativity for actual intelligence.
Larkin is pleased and calls him "a pro". This is the same guy who shoots at 5'4" Judy Geeson, mistaking her for 6'4" John Wayne.
shareI liked the `professional' low-profile way he went whizzing about in an E-type Jaguar that was so throaty you could hear it a quarter of a mile away. I also liked the way his bog-bomb blew out the structural wall but didn't even rattle the door!
sharealso it was funny that the people seen in the background through the opening created by the explosion of Brannigan's toilet appear to be unaware anything had even happened. an explosion that big would have surely generated some interest. it was also funny how they managed to fit an old west saloon fight into a movie set in London in 1975, complete with screaming barkeep, piano player, swinging door, balcony fall, etc
shareThat'd be really difficult since Marion Morrison's brain being so tiny would make a hard target to hit with bullets.
jazzyjeffg wrote:share
Seriously, I found the assassin to be cartoonishly silly, with his ultra slow movements and spectacularly elaborate attempts to kill John Wayne. I mean, an exploding toilet? And what was that bizarre game of chicken at the end? Who trained this guy, Dr. Evil? Whatever happened to walking up behind him and putting two in the noggin? I was looking closely at his equipment to see if the "ACME" brand name was anywhere in sight. Sheesh.