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Filmmakers have long been fascinated with the idea of hired killers or professional hit men, and there are hundreds, if not thousands, of films that feature these same killers as villains or heroes. Not surprisingly, many of these films have been dismissed by critics as action films that use killer characters as an excuse for senseless violence.
On the other hand, there were also many critically acclaimed films that portrayed hitmen in interesting ways. Here are the top 10 hit movies.
10 Fargo (2014-…)
A drifter named Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) causes trouble in a small Minnesota town and influences the killer of insurance salesman Lester Nygaard (Martin Freeman). Meanwhile, a couple of local cops try to put together a series of murders that they believe are connected to Malvo and Nygaard. Based on the movie of the same name, all about atmosphere, style and location, Fargo introduces more quirky characters and a new storyline that’s expertly executed with dark humor and weird twists.
9. Killing Eve (2018-…)
Eva spends her time quietly obsessing over killers, especially women. When it turns out that their new client witnessed the murder of her powerful boyfriend, Eve announces that the murder was carried out by an unknown female killer. Unable to keep herself from asking questions, Eve begins to close in on solving a crime her superiors choose to ignore…until her client is murdered right under her nose.
Suddenly out of a job, Eve is determined to continue investigating. Luckily for her, what she has done causes her to notice the MI5 agent assigned to the case, Caroline Martens (played by Fiona Shaw).
8. The Punisher (2017-2019)
After destroying the last of the gang members who killed his family, Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal), also known as “The Punisher”, lives under an assumed name. However, a mysterious man who calls himself “Micro” (Ebon Moss-Bahrah) lures him into hiding with video footage of Castle and his unit torturing an Afghan interrogator named Ahmad Zubair (Chezi Sardar) in Kandahar. Castle and Micro form a shaky alliance to take down Agent Orange (Paul Schulze), Castle’s senior officer in Afghanistan and the mastermind behind the shadowy Operation Cerberus.
7. Nine Yards (2000)
Nicholas “Oz” Auxeransky (Perry) is a good dentist who lives in the suburbs of Montreal. His new neighbor next door, Jimmy “Tulip” Tudesky (Willis), is a hitman on the run from a dangerous Chicago crime family. Despite their differences, Oz and Jimmy have one thing in common: someone is trying to kill them both.
6. Lay low in Bruges (2008)
Bruges, the best preserved medieval city in all of Belgium, is an attractive destination for travelers from all over the world. But for hitmen Ray and Ken, this could be their ultimate destination. Hard work led to their London boss Harry ordering a pair on Christmas Eve a couple of weeks ago. Very out of place among the gothic architecture, canals and cobbled streets, two hitmen fill their days with the life of tourists.
Ray, still haunted by the bloodshed in London, hates the place, while Ken, although he follows Ray’s often insanely funny exploits with a fatherly eye, finds his mind and soul expanded by the city’s beauty and serenity. But, the longer they stay waiting for Harry’s call, the more surreal their experience becomes, as they have strange encounters with locals, tourists, violent medieval art, a dwarf American actor making a European feature film, Dutch prostitutes, and a potential romance for Ray in the image of Chloe, who may have her own dark secrets.
And when the call from Harry finally arrives, Ken and Ray’s vacation turns into a life-or-death struggle with dark comical events and surprisingly emotional consequences.
5. Saints and Boondock (1999)
The film tells the story of twin brothers Murphy and Connor McManus (Norman Reedus and Sean Patrick Flannery) who, after killing two gangsters in self-defense, believe they have received a “calling” from God to rid the city of Boston of all the bad guys.
Alas, The Boondock Saints was heavily criticized. Rotten Tomatoes, where the film received a 20 percent rotten rating, describes the film as “a young, ugly film that represents the worst tendencies of directors broadcasting Tarantino.”
4. The Professional (1981)
Joss Beaumont (Jean-Paul Belmondo) is a French spy tasked with assassinating an African dictator, and when he arrives in Africa to do so, he is captured and imprisoned. The political wind has changed – the dictator is now an ally – and the best way to deal with the agent is to keep him in prison.
To get even for his imprisonment, the agent escapes after two years in prison and returns to Paris, where he announces that he is going to finish his assassination job during the African leader’s upcoming diplomatic visit. Upon learning of this intention, the French government sets one trap after another, but to no avail – the agent remains free, and there is no doubt that he is fully capable of doing exactly what he says.
3. Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
A 2006 black comedy thriller mixed with noir style, Slevin’s Lucky Number features a cast consisting of Josh Hartnett, Lucy Liu, Ben Kingsley, Morgan Freeman and Bruce Willis.
Slevin’s Lucky Number is a thriller that twists and turns its way through underworld and revenge. Based in New York, a misidentification case leads Slevin (Hartnett) into the middle of a war being plotted by two of the city’s most rival crime bosses.
2. Pulp Fiction (1995)
Outrageously violent, time-warping, and in love with language, Pulp Fiction was widely considered the most influential American film of the 1990s. Director and co-writer Quentin Tarantino has synthesized such seemingly disparate traditions as the syncopated language of David Mamet; serious violence on american gangster movies, crime movies. The Oscar-winning screenplay by Tarantino and Roger Avari intertwines with three stories featuring Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta in a role that single-handedly relaunched his career, as well as Bruce Willis and the irresistible Uma Thurman.
1. Leon (1994)
Visually stylish and graphically violent, this thriller directed by Luc Besson follows Mathilde (Natalie Portman), a 12-year-old girl living in New York who is exposed to the ugly side of life from an early age: her family lives in the slums and her abusive father works for drug dealers. One day, she returns on an errand to find that most of her family, including her brother, have been killed in a raid by corrupt DEA agents led by the psychotic Stansfield (Gary Oldman).
Matilda takes refuge in the apartment of her secretive neighbor Leon (Jean Reno), who receives her with a certain reluctance. She discovers that Leon is a professional assassin working for Tony (Danny Aiello), a kingpin based in Little Italy. Wanting to avenge her brother’s death, Matilda makes a deal with Leon to become his protégé in exchange for housework.