The Replacement Killers doesn't have much of a plot, but the choreography in the action scenes are great, and if there's any aspect of violence that could be called beautiful, The Replacement Killers strives to highlight it.
John Lee (Chow Yun-Fat) is an assasin for hire. When he fails to kill a young boy, his own life is threatened because of his disobedience to Terrence Wei (Kenneth Tsang), the person whom Lee is contracting for. He enlists the aid of Meg Koburn (Mira Sorvino) to escape from Wei and return to China to protect his family from Wei's revenge. Needless to say, it isn't easy when Wei's thugs meet up with them at every corner. There's plenty of shooting, gore, and great action.
The Replacement Killers is a good time killer, and were it not for the pure aesthetic appeal of the cinematography (Peter Collister) and the direction (Antoine Fuqua), I would not recommend this movie at all. In a sense, I don't think it's the best American debut Chow Yun-Fat could've made, but knowing American audiences, it may not matter. As it were, it's worth watching on the big screen.