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I have to admit from the start that I am a massive fan of John Woo's works. His action films and style from Hong Kong in the 80s and 90s are full of soul and exaggerated filmmaking techniques that are incredibly difficult to not love. Slow motion action scenes, jazz music, and a hail of all-out gunfire from weapons that appear to never need to be reloaded, and explosions that come from anything and everything. These films are still somewhat present in today's film blockbusters, but simply do not contain the same creativity and freshness that stemmed from Woo's era of neon lights and the white buildings of tropical Hong Kong.

It is no surprise that Woo's lowest rated films are the ones that were filmed once he moved to the west and began to enter the sphere of Hollywood. Where the styles and standards as a result of the differences in environment and culture would begin to affect the types of stories told and how they are told. For me, these are my least favourite films of his, but some can still be appreciated despite not particularly being on par with his greatest films from the east. The style he crafted is somewhat lost, but there are still attempts at it. As if he lost some creative control in the west as budgets increased and the hands that fed began to pull the strings as well.

John Woo's style is also one that I feel does not entirely translate into the world of digital, where the aspects of film format instead contribute to the gritty, dark, and somewhat tone strong elements of interiors where atmosphere plays such an important piece in forming visual narrative for context.

<center>**Hard Target**</center>

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Hard Target is a film I struggled to enjoy for the most part, unlike many other action films of the era that consist of mostly guns and explosions. I feel this is down to the fact that Hard Target just does not introduce much depth into its characters at all. There's seemingly no real introduction or added context to its main cast. Each of these characters as a result is very hard to really care for or even root for. The first fifteen minutes of the film are focusing on the story's main elements of which some villains are hunting down a person in the dead of the night. We discover that the person is a homeless guy and his daughter takes the initiative to try to find him after he goes missing. Our main tough guy protagonist is merely a regular worker from the docks that gets hired to help. 

The problem here, however, is that Jean-Claude Van Damme's performance as Chance Boudreaux is utterly boring. He completely lacks charisma and is easily the most plain, uninteresting aspect of the film, which is not a good look considering he's actually the main focus. The villains aren't much better, but the film takes advantage of typical tropes to propel them forward: an evil English accent followed by shady businessmen that wear all black. These men are merely corrupt criminals that thrive on hunting down those less fortunate in society. And that's pretty much all there is to the story, as well as our characters. 

It's certainly disappointing, given John Woo's prior films are ripe in characters and cast members that ooze charisma and are incredibly pleasant to have on the screen at all times. You can't help but find them cool with their styles and performances. The character of Chance Boudreaux is the total opposite of this. His line delivery is completely lacking in any elements of emotion, and it seems as if he isn't really trying. This total lack of charisma and context in the characters also ripples deep into the directing as action scenes take reign -- as expected -- but ultimately fall completely flat due to the total lack of support elsewhere. 

These action scenes don't really have any weight to them. There isn't really anything at stake in the narrative, which makes the endless gunfire and explosions very monotone. I noticed this very early on, as the film, in typical John Woo fashion, went straight into the action. Though usually our characters are given some time to develop a little bit for the audience to get a feel for who they are. That isn't to say that all characters need context and depth, just that in Hard Target, the performances are too weak to make you want to know anything more, and the action doesn't distract you from this. Instead, you don't really feel anything. 

<center>**Poor sound design**</center>

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I couldn't help but notice how bad the sound design was, which simply added to my lack of interest in the film. John Woo is known for his audio dubbing in his films, where lines delivered on screen don't always match the audio, and sound effects are often exaggerated and heavy. I love this about older films, and while it may bother some, I feel it's a part of filmmaking history that adds to my passion for it all. But in the case of Hard Target, the sound design was terrible in parts, to the point where I began testing my own audio setup to ensure nothing was off and causing these issues.

Now, we all know that punches in films are met with a very ridiculous sound as they land on the unfortunate victim, but in Hard Target, these sounds are distracting, loud, and far from realistic. In one moment, we hear a match being lit, this shot in the film is meant to display a dramatic event where our protagonist meets the main villain face-to-face, but the sound of the match being lit comes out of nowhere, with certainly much higher levels of decibels than the rest of the sounds and dialogue. Like a loud, very low quality scratch that is quick. 

As mention already, these use of sound effects in the past, and present, are very much normal, and often are done very well despite not being obvious to what they're actually attempting to portray, but in this case the audio was far too loud and different to the rest of the audio. This happens again and again with other effects and it almost appears to be an afterthought to the directing and sound design rather than a planned intention from the start.

Though, I must admit that the film still utilises good ambient music to provide some atmosphere when necessary, something that many modern films now fail to do.

<center>**John Woo Directing**</center>

![vlcsnap-2022-05-23-21h46m59s600.png](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/namiks/EpXK1X8f3dyqffsSMaEd2uEqUjrt3AJ64ZfLLo9VL7JXr2M7JqEc6Lw9Ys9uZBsAiCg.png)

Despite my many issues with the film, I still can't help but appreciate certain techniques found in John Woo's films. I love slow motion action sequences, followed by emphasised sound design on things such as guns being reloaded and fired. Where time comes to a near standstill in moments of high risk and danger. I love John Woo's films for moments such as these, and I can't deny that there are moments in Hard Target where I still do feel some of this admiration. 

Sadly, there just isn't enough of everything else to really make this film great. It is only when these concepts are used alongside everything else that they truly flourish and can be appreciated. Though, if you're into John Woo or want to get a general idea of what he's all about, Hard Target might just give you a brief idea. It seems to be a film all about the fun without much of the charisma that usually follows. 

To experience John Woo at his peak, however, you must instead stick to his films from Hong Kong.