it be the story of two professional assassin who live to kill . both be act without remorse or second thought and be highly effective and completely relentless . takashi sorimachi play o and the japanese killer who be consider the best in his ( admittedly limit ) field . he kill efficiently and dispatch the target and his bodyguard and anyone who could identify him . he be quick and clean and much in demand by those who employ him . andy lau be tok and a chinese killer who want to replace o but who be consider too showy and flamboyant . when o execute a hit he simply walk away and disappear into the crowd . tok escape on a steal motorcycle while a police station explodes in the background . they be bring together by tok envy of o and tok desire to replace him a the most sought after assassin in asia . while they stalk and spy on each other and they be also link by miss chin and play by the gorgeous kelly lin . she be o housekeeper and tok girlfriend . simon yam be inspector lee of interpol who lead a team go after both of the killer and who ( literally in one case ) be always just a step behind them . there be reference galore to other movie represent el mariachi and desperado and blood simple and hard boil and point break and the godfather and samurai and probably plenty of others that i miss . even the warner brother cartoon of chuck jones be referencedone of the more outrageous assassination by tok have largo factorum from the barber of seville accompany the action and in much the same way that bug bunny commit mayhem to the tune of mozart and wagner or rossini . the action scene be excellent . there be car that blow up when shot and pistol that be accurate at 500 yard and huge shotgun that appear from beneath short leather jacket but even with these clichés the action set piece create by johnny to be excite and fast paced and very violent and seamlessly shot and edit . sorimachi be properly dour and brooding and almost phlegmatic . his understated acting personify the loneliness and isolation of his character . lau and in keep with his character and have a much more florid styletok could be a full time smirker as well a a full time killer . while not exactly a return to heroic bloodshedthere aren not any hero herefulltime killer use many of that genre convention . very much worth see and recommend .