The main thing that attracted me to 'Killers From Beijing' was the presence of actor Chin Kar Lok.  Lok has always been an on-screen fighter with an immense amount of talent and after seeing him in action in in movies such as 'Martial Arts Master Wong Fei Hung' and 'Operation Scorpio' I was looking forward to seeing this kung fu maestro back in action.  Sadly though, I couldn't have been more wrong.

Triad boss Mr Tseung is having trouble with the leader of a rival gang by the name of King Kong.  He sends his right hand man, White Chick, to hire some mercenaries from China who will wipe out all of his problems.  Cat, Wan, Miu Choi and Pig Skin are four ex-soldiers who have little to do to fulfil their lives and could really do with the money.  They are obvious candidates for the positions and are relocated to Hong Kong where their task is simple; assassinate King Kong and make it look like an unrelated incident.  Things are going well until they head back to the rendezvous point where police are waiting for them and they look seriously outnumbered.  Their only option is to fight their way out and hope that they make it back to the mainland alive.

Oh dear, where do I start with a film that seems to have so many major flaws?  Well I suppose for any film the story is always a priority and for 'Killers From Beijing', you have the distinct feeling that the plot is being made up as we go along.  Although you could probably say the underlying details were already established, the actual script is so poor that it may as well have been pencilled in as the movie was being produced (and probably was).  All of the dialogue is kept short and sweet with next to no character development or background. New people are also thrown into the thick of it every two minutes, seemingly with no real purpose other than as a means to help the director wrap up a scene.

When it comes to the acting, it's pretty much on a par with the story. Leading actor Patrick Tam has to be one of the most emotionless performers I have ever seen.  This is particularly noticeable in two of the (supposedly) more dramatic moments in the film as Tam is incredibly straight faced, never allowing the audience to build up any affiliation with his emotions or the tragedy that engulfs his situation.  Meanwhile, the criminally under-used Chin Kar Lok gets little to do both acting and action-wise as for some reason he is given the role of getaway driver and remains absent from the majority of the main gunplay.  All the remaining members of the cast range from poor to very poor but this could probably be put down to a general lack of direction rather than a reflection on their abilities.

With most Hong Kong movies you can normally rely on the action to enthral even if the surrounding film is less than satisfying but even here 'Killers From Beijing' manages to disappoint.  If I was being generous I could say there is one above average shoot-out as the gang perform the hit on the triad boss but really this is one bright spot in an otherwise dismal display of action that relies more on the ketchup factor (i.e. over excessive blood splatters) than any kind of flair from the choreographer or director.

There really is very little reason to recommend this movie as it appears to be disappointing on all levels of competent film-making.  The budget doesn't look that low and there are times when it could have been heartfelt but the filmmakers are truly incapable of capitalising on this.  Avoid it even if it is in the bargain basement bin.