The Big Hit (1998) Movie Review

Overview

Matt revisits The Big Hit (1998), calling it a fun, underrated ’90s action comedy. He enjoys its stylish, fast-moving energy and deliberately silly tone, as well as its cast. Lou Diamond Phillips steals the show, while Mark Wahlberg does well in the lead.

Story and Action

Wahlberg plays a stressed contract killer caught between two relationships: a woman he gives money to who is secretly taking advantage of him, and a fiancée whose traditional parents don’t know what he does for a living. His fellow hitmen leave him to handle most of the work, leading to broad, over-the-top action, including bungee-jumping down stairs and shooting while rolling around.

The crew’s side plan to kidnap their boss’s goddaughter goes wrong when they discover she is connected to their powerful boss, played by Avery Brooks. Phillips’s character turns on the others to save himself, while Wahlberg’s character bonds with the captive.

A running gag about an overdue King Kong Lives VHS leads to the climax at a video store. Matt likes the unusual setting but wishes the film had made more of it with a bigger, more elaborate shootout.

Comic Highlights

Matt calls out several jokes:

• Bokeem Woodbine struggles to fit wire cutters around a thick wire.
• Phillips shuts down a “You can’t handle the truth” routine.
• The kidnappers fumble with a tape recorder, repeatedly rewinding and fast-forwarding to find the right message.
• Wahlberg’s future in-laws try to keep alcohol away from Elliott Gould’s character, who gets so drunk he throws up on Phillips.

Criticisms and Verdict

Matt’s main criticisms are that the biggest action set pieces arrive early, leaving the finale less explosive than expected; Woodbine and Antonio Sabàto Jr. disappear from the story for long stretches; and Phillips’s final fight with Wahlberg feels awkwardly shot.

Still, Matt enjoys the humor, performances, and energetic style, and is glad he revisited the film.

People Discussed

Matt (reviewer); Mark Wahlberg; Lou Diamond Phillips; Bokeem Woodbine; Antonio Sabàto Jr.; Christina Applegate; Avery Brooks; Elliott Gould; Sab Shimono; China Chow; director Kirk Wong; writer Ben Ramsey.