Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday (2022)

For the right price, Mike Fallon will execute a hit on the target of one’s choice and cleverly disguise it as an accident, which readers of the “Accident Man” comic book and 2018 “Accident Man” movie led by Scott Adkins will know.

A lesser-known skill set of Mike Fallon’s is making a sequel that tops its predecessor in every conceivable way, but that much will become swiftly apparent to all who lay eyes on Mike’s return in “Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday”.

As the knockout featuring directing debut of George and Harry Kirby, the likely big break into the spotlight for numerous martial artists in its supporting cast, and a throwback to the golden age of Hong Kong action cinema with a quite literally cutting sense of humor, virtually everything “Hitman’s Holiday” does, it does spectacularly well!

Trailer

Cast

Scott Adkins returns as the master of accidents Mike Fallon, with Perry Benson also back as Mike’s friend Finicky Fred. Ray Stevenson also returns as Mike’s one-time friend in London’s assassin underworld Big Ray, with Sarah Chang portraying the nimble kung fu fighter, Wong Siu-Ling.

The ruthless crime boss Mrs. Zuuzer is played by Flaminia Cinque, with her wayward son Dante, played by George Fouracres and Adam Basil as their bodyguard Armando.

The many assassin enemies Mike Fallon encounters in “Hitman’s Holiday” include such heavy hitters as Yendi, Silas, Poco The Killer Clown, and Oyumi, respectively played by Faisal Mohammed, Peter Lee Thomas, Beau Fowler, and Andy Long, who also helps orchestrate the action of “Hitman’s Holiday”.

Plot

After burning every bridge in his revenge mission in “Accident Man”, Mike Fallon decides to restart his life anew in Malta.

Whilst still earning a lucrative living from the “accidents” he arranges for specified targets to be in, Mike’s old friend from London, Finicky Fred, is on hand to help him in his new operation.

Mike also purges himself of the guilt of taking out his assassin friends and driving Big Ray’s assassin bar The Oasis out of business by letting local kung fu master Wong Siu-ling, a direct descendent of Wong Fei-hung himself, trounce Mike over and over in surprise sparring matches.

However, Mike’s world is turned upside down when he is coerced into a new job by Malta’s reigning crime boss: Mrs. Zuuzer. After a contract is placed on the head of her problem-prone son Dante, Mrs. Zuuzer kidnaps Finicky Fred, and tasks Mike with eliminating her son’s oncoming assassins.

Mike also finds the stakes unexpectedly raised higher by the arrival of Big Ray himself in Malta, out to cash in a huge payday by taking out Dante, and settle his bitter score with Mike himself.

Action

Action and Comedy Blended to Perfection

The blend of action and comedy that “Accident Man” delivered on so well has been refined to sparkling perfection in “Hitman’s Holiday”.

With Perry Benson’s banter as Finicky Fred, and Ray Stevenson’s dry, cockney quipping as Big Ray, that’s the closest the movie ever gets to being ‘reserved’ in any sense of the word.

Full-Blown Wackiness in Beautiful Malta

With the stunning location of Malta as its backdrop, “Hitman’s Holiday” graduates the comedy of “Accident Man” to full-blown gallow’s humor and wackiness with how Mike and Fred plan their hits.

The running gag of Wong Siu-ling constantly popping up out of nowhere to overwhelm Mike in a kung fu fight is bound to make Sarah Chang the breakout player in “Hitman’s Holiday”, and even her and Scott’s brawls aren’t the most bonkers tool in the movie’s assassin treasure chest.

Sarah Chang as Wong Siu-Ling Blows the Fight Action Fuse

For that, it has an entire warehouse’s worth where Mike and Fred test their methods of implementing accidents. Suffice it say, “Home Alone” with a Hong Kong action spin is the order of the day in Scott and Fred’s lair and their unapologetically blood-soaked line of work outside of it.

Hong Kong 80’s-Style Action Makes a Welcome Comeback

Speaking of Hong Kong, “Hitman’s Holiday” is a Hong Kong action movie lover’s wonderland with the martial arts and stunts the sequel’s consortium of pros have cooked up.

In any Scott Adkins movie, having several of the year’s best fight scenes is a given. Even with that standard as its baseline, “Hitman’s Holiday” has the electric finesse of an 80’s Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao team-up with even more of the comic book DNA of its source material’s larger-than-life assassin characters, and over-the-top comedy.

Sparring with Kung Fu Women is the Least of Mike Fallon’s Troubles

Wong Siu-ling’s aforementioned sparring matches with Mike are just the tip of the iceberg with the kind of action scenes Mike has to both Guyver kick and Accident Man his way through.

Wel, “Hitman’s Holiday” delivers both, and the expected level of comedy in spades in his battles with the vampirically-inclined Yendi and the cinderblock-wielding Pennywise that is Poco the Killer Clown, the kind of characters who could only shine in the topsy-turvy R-rated world of “Accident Man”.

Satisfyingly Saturated with Dark Humor, Comedic Kills and Martial Arts Fights

Mike and Fred’s lair with their prototype assassin weapons is where viewers get all of what “Hitman’s Holiday” has to offer by the truckload with the dark humor of its comedic kills and the most purely Hong Kong-style martial arts fights a Western movie can possibly create.

With Andy Long onboard as both fight choreographer, and Mike’s perpetually airborne enemy, Oyumi, “Hitman’s Holiday” has hardcore Hong Kong action fans more than luxuriously covered.

Summary

Mike Fallon’s adventures in Malta might be described as a “Hitman’s Holiday”, but no one will find more of a paradise in the movie than action and comedy fans alike.

By the end of the off-the-chain Hong Kong-esque action-comedy stylings of “Hitman’s Holiday”, the idea of “Accident Man 3” already sounds twice as exciting as it already did. With how much “Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday” outdoes its predecessor, the assassin shenanigans of Mike Fallon are already looking like a permanent vacation!

Favourite Quotes

• “Bleeding hell, that couldn’t have gone any better.” – Mike Fallon (after one of his and Finicky Fred’s successful hits.)
• “No, she’s legit mate. Eyes in the back of her head and she knows about eight different forms of animal kung fu. It’s like having a scrap in a zoo.” – Mike Fallon (when Finicky Fred suggests he allows Wong Siu-ling to win all of their fights.)
• “You’ll be lucky if I don’t kill this p**** myself.” – Mike Fallon (describing his feelings toward Dante to Mrs. Zuuzer.)
• “We said no n** shots!” – Mike Fallon (after Wong Siu-ling knees him in the groin in one of her surprise attacks.)
• “And I told you to protect them at all times!” – Wong Siu-ling (in reply.)

Trivia

• Scott Adkins met George Kirby while working on “Doctor Strange”, Kirby having served as Benedict Cumberbatch’s stunt man on the film. Their meeting, and Scott having been impressed by a short film directed by the Kirby brothers, led to them by being brought aboard “Hitman’s Holiday” as their feature directorial debut.
• In the film, Dante says Mike Fallon looks like “melted Ben Affleck”. A similar line can be heard in “The Brothers Grimsby”, in which Sacha Baron Cohen’s character Nobby calls Scott’s assassin Lukashenko “Ukrainian Ben Affleck”.
• The movie was shot in Malta in 22 days.
• Some of George and Harry Kirby’s shorts prior to “Hitman’s Holiday” include “Watch Dogs: Retribution”, “Martial Arts vs Zombies”, “Dragon Ball Z: The Saiyan Saga”, “Batman: The Bloody Valentine”, and “Cable: Chronicles of Hope”.
• Some of George Kirby’s many past movies as a stunt man include “Kick Ass 2”, “Star Wars: Episode VI – The Force Awakens”, “The Legend of Tarzan”, “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”, “King Arthur: Legend of the Sword”, “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, “The Batman”, “Solo: A Star Wars Story”, and “Zack Snyder’s Justice League”.
• Beau Fowler previously appeared in Scott Adkins’ 2019 movie “Avengement”, directed by Jesse Johnson, who also directed the first “Accident Man”.
• Sarah Chang was Celina Jade’s stunt woman on “Wolf Warrior 2”. She also has practiced Wushu since the age of 5 and has won numerous U.S. Wushu championships.
• In addition to his work on the Jackie Chan Stunt Team on numerous movies, Andy Long has also done stunt work and fight choreography on movies and shows like “Into the Badlands”, “Commando 3”, and “Sanak”, and worked with Scott on Boyka: Undisputed and “The Intergalactic Adventures of Max Cloud”. Andy even has a two-on-one fight scene alongside Tim Man with Scott in “Boyka: Undisputed”. Check out KFK’s in-depth interview with Andy Long for all of his stunt and martial arts stories!

Film Rating: 9/10

“Accident Man: Hitman’s Holiday” arrives in theaters and on digital platforms this Friday, October 14^th!

Are you looking forward to seeing Mike Fallon back in action in “Hitman’s Holiday”? Are you excited to see its amazing fight scenes with Scott Adkins, Andy Long, Sarah Chang, and the other top notch martial artists?

What crazy assassin mission would you just love to see Mike Fallon take on in “Accident Man 3”? Let us know in the comments below; Like, share and join in the conversation on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter & Instagram!

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