Hit Man starts as Tyrone Tackett (Bernie Casey) lands in L.A. for his brother Cornell's funeral, while there he also intends to find out who killed him. At first everyone tells him the same story that Cornell committed suicide but as he digs deeper he ruffles the local gangsters feathers, he uncovers a seedy world of porn & it all leads back to mob boss Nono Zito (Don Diamond). Then Cornell's daughter Rochelle (Candy All (!)) is murdered & that makes Tyrone even madder, he intends to settle the score & avenge his brother's & niece's murders...
Written & directed by George Armitage this seems to be know as some sort of Blaxploitation remake of Get Carter (1974), while I admit I've never seen Get Carter I find that difficult to believe especially since Hit Man was actually based on a novel called 'Jack's Return Home' by Ted Lewis, anyway Hit Man is good for a few laughs but little else. For the first hour or so it's fairly slow going with Tyrone going around town asking about his brother, then when he finds out the action kicks in along with some sleazy porno sub plot although it's a little to late to save it. The thing I like about Hit Man is the dialogue, it's absolutely hilarious & one of the best has to be at Cornell's funeral when someone goes up to Tyrone & says 'Cornell was one fine dude', there are countless racial slurs & terms & just downright plain laugh out loud funny Blaxploitation dialogue. Hit Man is a film with so many quotable lines it puts Quentin Tarantino to shame. Unfortunately the racist, funny, un-PC foul mouthed dialogue is the only thing Hit Man has going for it because otherwise it's a dull slow moving lifeless action flick without any action.
Director Armitage does alright, it looks suitably nice enough although that was probably down to cinematographer Andrew Davis who went on to be a big budget Hollyoood action film director himself with flicks including Above the Law (1998), Under Siege (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Chain Reaction (1996), A Perfect Murder (1998) & the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Collateral Damage (2002). The action scenes are mostly just shoot outs, the blood used at the end looks like bright red paint. I have to mention the fashions here as well, they are a hoot to look at as Tyrone goes around wearing a silly hat at a 45 degree angle on his head! Some of those collars are so big the people wearing the shirts might take off if there was a strong gust of wind & the colours are so garish this could only have been made in the 70's. The hair-dos are pretty funny at times as well. Sure this all adds to the fun & camp value but, well there's just not much of a film to go with it if you know what I mean. Animal lovers should beware as there is a scene set during an illegal dog fight, two pit-bulls are set against each other in a fight to the death & I know how some people get upset by cruelty to animals even if it is faked like here.
Technically the film is fine, it's reasonably well made with decent production values, I'm not sure where that Lion that kills Gozelda (Pam Grier) comes from though? I didn't know Lions roamed free throughout L.A.? The acting is suitably over-the-top with Casey making a cool hero.
Hit Man is an alright film if only for it's unintentionally funny dialogue & 70's fashions, it's watchable on a silly level but I doubt I'll ever want to watch it again.
Written & directed by George Armitage this seems to be know as some sort of Blaxploitation remake of Get Carter (1974), while I admit I've never seen Get Carter I find that difficult to believe especially since Hit Man was actually based on a novel called 'Jack's Return Home' by Ted Lewis, anyway Hit Man is good for a few laughs but little else. For the first hour or so it's fairly slow going with Tyrone going around town asking about his brother, then when he finds out the action kicks in along with some sleazy porno sub plot although it's a little to late to save it. The thing I like about Hit Man is the dialogue, it's absolutely hilarious & one of the best has to be at Cornell's funeral when someone goes up to Tyrone & says 'Cornell was one fine dude', there are countless racial slurs & terms & just downright plain laugh out loud funny Blaxploitation dialogue. Hit Man is a film with so many quotable lines it puts Quentin Tarantino to shame. Unfortunately the racist, funny, un-PC foul mouthed dialogue is the only thing Hit Man has going for it because otherwise it's a dull slow moving lifeless action flick without any action.
Director Armitage does alright, it looks suitably nice enough although that was probably down to cinematographer Andrew Davis who went on to be a big budget Hollyoood action film director himself with flicks including Above the Law (1998), Under Siege (1992), The Fugitive (1993), Chain Reaction (1996), A Perfect Murder (1998) & the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Collateral Damage (2002). The action scenes are mostly just shoot outs, the blood used at the end looks like bright red paint. I have to mention the fashions here as well, they are a hoot to look at as Tyrone goes around wearing a silly hat at a 45 degree angle on his head! Some of those collars are so big the people wearing the shirts might take off if there was a strong gust of wind & the colours are so garish this could only have been made in the 70's. The hair-dos are pretty funny at times as well. Sure this all adds to the fun & camp value but, well there's just not much of a film to go with it if you know what I mean. Animal lovers should beware as there is a scene set during an illegal dog fight, two pit-bulls are set against each other in a fight to the death & I know how some people get upset by cruelty to animals even if it is faked like here.
Technically the film is fine, it's reasonably well made with decent production values, I'm not sure where that Lion that kills Gozelda (Pam Grier) comes from though? I didn't know Lions roamed free throughout L.A.? The acting is suitably over-the-top with Casey making a cool hero.
Hit Man is an alright film if only for it's unintentionally funny dialogue & 70's fashions, it's watchable on a silly level but I doubt I'll ever want to watch it again.