When you?re a hitman, you can’t take a vacation, even if you need one.
With the return of anti-hero Mike Fallon (Scott Adkins) in Accident Man: Hitman?s Holiday, our fair hero wants to put the events of his past behind him and move on with his life. Having moved to Malta, he spends his days doing quick contract kills and attempting to survive his ?training? from his friend, Sarah Chang (Wong Siu-Ling). But the past has a way of catching up with you. All of a sudden, Fallon finds himself forced to fend off the world?s top assassins from killing the annoying son of a mafia boss.
Featuring a plot that could be taken from any of the myriad of violent actioners in the past, Holiday offers nothing particularly new to the genre. A symphony of nonsense, the film plays out almost as much like a video game as it does narrative. But one can?t say that it isn?t fun. Admittedly, each scene leads to increasingly brutal battles and plot twists can be seen coming a mile away. Even so, this isn?t a film that wants to challenge the boundaries of storytelling. Instead, this Holiday wants to offer a vacation for your brain by titillating it with some insane action work that keeps the film interesting.
Quietly making a name for himself on the VOD circuit, Adkins continues to fly around the screen with unbelievable speed and precision here as well. Having said this, he is almost outshone by his costar, Wong Siu-Ling. While her acting performance is? lacking? she?s not here for her ability to spin a sonnet. In Holiday, Wong bounces around on screen with the energy of a young Michelle Yeoh, kicking butt whenever she has the opportunity. Between the two of them, there are enough bodies laid out on screen to satisfy every fan of the genre.
Interestingly, there?s a subtle commentary on the modern action hero. Back in the 1980s and 90s, the ?one man against the world? actioner remained a staple of the cinema. Heroes such as Schwarzenegger, Van Damme and Stallone made their name by being one-man armies but our action heroes have evolved since then. While Fallon may be a killer, what?s interesting is that this man cannot do it alone. There?s a very real sense that this hitman needs a hit-family in order to survive in the New World. (?Enough of this toxic masculinity,? one villain reminds him.)
The best example of this comes when Fallon points out that, even though he may be a violent killer, that only happened because that is who he has been made to be by the previous generation. Stepping out on his own, he wants to do things differently than those who came before him. Now, he sees the value of working together, even if the job is to leave people out on a cold slab. To him, the outcome may be the same but that doesn?t mean that he has to do it the same way. In this way, Holiday holds on to its violent traditions while still acknowledging the need for a new direction.
But let?s be serious, if you?re watching Hitman?s Holiday, you?re likely not doing it for the social commentary.
In this way, Accident Man: Hitman?s Holiday carries all fun of wanton violence that should excite fans of the franchise. Although the plot is standard and the characters fairly one-note, Holiday features some truly eye-popping fight scenes that keep the film alive and kicking. (And, by the film?s end, there?s no doubt that this is intended to be the next chapter of an ongoing franchise.) So, if you?re looking for a night of martial arts action, it?s a Holiday that may be worth taking.
Accident Man: Hitman?s Holiday is available on VOD and Digital on Friday, October 14th, 2022.
