DVD Synopsis: CAT is a killer drives on his pain to get revenge everyday. During his mission he meets his long awaited for WESLEY. Fierce combat starts, by mistake, CAT blackmails policewoman CARRIE as a hostage. During that period, CAT and CARRIE fall in love with each other and fight against other killers together... (92 Mins)

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Views: Having done his part as an action director, or uncredited director, in many films since the start of his career, the great Donnie Yen made a point of becoming a serious director around the late 1990s. This new venture was launched with the fantastic Legend Of The Wolf, released in many western territories as The New Big Boss. It was a great debut (though not without its flaws) and was soon followed by Ballistic Kiss and Shanghai Affairs the following year - two very different projects that certainly have their moments. While the latter would highlight Donnie in an ass-kicking role akin to that of a Bruce Lee movie, the former would allow the superstar to unleash his creativity as a film-maker, as well as star as a character that (to that point) he had never portrayed before...

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Donnie plays Cat, a cool hitman who has always been somewhat of a lone-wolf since leaving his job as a New York cop. When he's not killing, Cat spends most of his days talking on the phone with a radio DJ (Simon Lui), where they discuss life and morals while live-on-air. As he thinks about calling it quits, Cat agrees to one last job, when he sees an opportunity to take revenge on an old partner that double-crossed him many years ago. But when the assassination attempt goes awry, Cat makes a run for it - taking a hostage along the way as a last-ditch attempt to escape. That hostage is Carrie, a policewoman who has unknowingly been working on his case and the one woman in the neighbourhood that has always caught his eye. Even as the truth comes to light, the pair start to fall in love during their time spent together with trouble not too far behind them, as revenge is on the cards and bullets fly!

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While it may prove disappointing to new fans of Donnie's (who have really only followed the powerhouse since SPL) because of its lack-of explosive fight-scenes every few minutes, Ballistic Kiss still provides enough stylish Hong Kong action that won me over – almost as if Wong Kar Wai had directed John Woo's The Killer. And as if starring and directing wasn't enough, Donnie leads the action department where he is joined by Kenji Tanigaki, Hoh Choi Chow, and the great Mak Wai Cheung – all of whom had come straight-off Legend Of The Wolf. While Hoh had only a few credits to his name by this stage and Kenji mostly bit-part credits, Mak had been on the scene from the late 1970s working on films at Shaw Brothers such as Return To The 36th Chamber, My Young Auntie, and Eight Diagram Pole Fighter, before going on to modern hits such as Yes Madam, Heart Of The Dragon, Magic Crystal, Tiger On The Beat, and other Donnie titles such as Tiger Cage 2, Fist Of Fury, and Satan Returns. In fact, his filmography is so highly impressive, he should be more widely known than he is. And while the action may seem less than usual for a Donnie Yen film and focuses more on gun-play in the heroic bloodshed sense, it still allows its star to throw some amazing moves – albeit in a very stylized way.

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There's no denying that Ballistic Kiss is a damn good movie, as well as an important piece in Donnie's career. But if one thing lets the film down, I'd have to say that it's Bey Logan's script that could have done with some refining. That said, Yen works with what he has and delivers a great performance as the hitman with a heart. The lovely Annie Wu plays Carrie, the policewoman-turned-hostage who falls for Cat and does a fine job once again. I remember seeing Annie in Jackie Chan's First Strike (which was her first role), and from there in titles like Best Of The Best, Island Of Greed, and Gorgeous. It was also great to see the wonderful Mike Woods popping up for some action, having not worked with Donnie since the fun Cheetah On Fire, a good 6 years earlier. I've chatted briefly with Mike online a few times over the years, and he seems like a genuinely nice man. It's a shame we didn't get to see more of him in front of the camera after this, as he always proved to be a worthy adversary for Donnie or anyone who stood in his way. Donnie's Shanghai Affairs co-star (and star in his-own-right), the great Yu Rong Kwong, appears briefly for a fantastically memorable and action-packed, shoot-out against Yen with other cast members such as Simon Lui, Vincent Kok, Jimmy Wong, Felix Lok, and others doing a fine job...

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The beautiful cinematography is courtesy of Hong Kong movie veteran Ally Wong Ka Fai, the man behind the lens on many classics such as Dreaming The Reality, Angel Terminators 2, Avenging Quartet, the remake of A Chinese Ghost Story, Donnie's own Painted Skin, and Legend Of The Wolf. Wong has also directed over 20 films during the course of his career, but to be honest I don't believe I've seen any of them so can't comment on that side of things. Regardless, the man does a fantastic job here in making Ballistic Kiss a gorgeously shot, art-house, martial-arts-thriller, with great lighting and interesting angles. On top of providing viewers with plenty of visual flairs and a steady pace, Ballistic Kiss is accompanied by a memorable score by Japanese pianist and composer, Yukie Nishimura, which reminded me a lot of a Studio Ghibli movie and works well with the overall tone of the film. Personally, I'd like to see this get a re-release on blu-ray and win the audience it deserves!

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Overall: Heroic bloodshed at its most stylish and an underrated Yen flick, Ballistic Kiss is great and shows Donnie in a one-time-only role that doesn't disappoint!

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DVD Extras: Cast Bio's, Trailers