After the death of rich businessman Mr. Tsukamoto, a $100 million dollar reward is offered by his estate for the assassin's capture. Fu is a struggling would-be hitman who lucks into Norman, an agent who offers to provide financial backing in exchange for a percentage. As Norman quickly discovers, though, Fu is the not exactly the killing type, as he saves his first intended victim. However, when Norman's last scam comes back to haunt him and he's mistaken for Tsukamoto's assassin, Fu must use his skills to protect them both and uncover the true culprit.

Even though I usually enjoy Jet Li's films, getting through Contract Killer was hard in several places, thanks to the new rap soundtrack that drowned out several fight scenes and the lackluster dubbing. The movie itself, however, is pretty good. The film's two stars, Li and Tsang, have great chemistry together, with Li providing some nice fight scenes and Tsang supplying the comedy. Despite what the box art might lead you to believe (Li never dresses up like that, swings anywhere, or wields a submachine gun), Contract Killer is much more of a comedy than an action film, with only the final fight really offering anything substantial for fans of Li's martial arts. Seeing Li dress up like Leon from The Professional is, however, worth the price of a rental.

Video:
Contract Killer is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. The transfer contains a great deal of specks, smaller marks, scratches, and spots, and while not overwhelming, they are rather distracting during several scenes. The colors are slightly washed-out in appearance, never appearing vibrant or bold. Flesh tones are, for the most part, accurate, with decent blacks.

Audio:
Contract Killer is presented dubbed in Dolby Digital 5.1 in English, Dolby Surround 2.0 in English, and Dolby 2.0 Stereo in Spanish. The 5.1 surround is almost entirely front based, with the rear surrounds used mainly for ambience. Directionality in the front soundstage is rather limited as well. The film's new music, however, does pound into the .1 LFE channel on occasion. The dub is pretty poor, especially for several characters. Dialogue throughout is clean with no distortion. Optional English subtitles are available.

Extras:
Extras include cast and crew filmographies, a photo gallery, and trailers for this film, One, Meltdown, and Legend of the Red Dragon.

Summary:
Contract Killer is a decent Jet Li action/comedy film that fans should check out. However, many might want to consider seeing the Region 0 release of the film instead (titled Hitman), as Columbia Tristar's DVD failed to provide the original language track and unaltered music.