Mike (James Caan) and George (Robert Duvall) work for a private company that handles, among other things, protection of people governments might want eliminated. George proves a turncoat, and after killing a client, shoots Mike in the knee and elbow to encourage him to retire.
Mike's not willing to go quiet like that, and much of the first hour is him trying to rehab. Adjusting to the metal brace around his arm that helps stabilize it. Rebuilding strength in the leg, learning how to adjust to the change in balance as he moves or fights.
Mike gets an opportunity to get back in action when there's an attempt on the life of Yuen Chung (Mako) almost as soon as he gets off the plane. By ninjas, no less, albeit in plainclothes. The stereotypical ninja garb doesn't come until the climactic fight scene aboard a derelict ship. (To their credit, the ninjas at least wear outfits that blend in with the ship's paint job, not that it helps.) Hedging their bets, whoever is after Chung also hired George, and Mike is tasked to protect Chung until he leaves the country.
Mike brings in two guys, Mac (Burt Young) and Miller (Bo Hopkins.) Mac runs a cab company and thinks Mike going back to this work is a bad idea, while Miller's a gun nut with an itchy trigger finger, but that's who Mike wanted, so that's who he gets. It's hard for me not to see Burt Young and just picture him as Rocky Balboa's loudmouth brother-in-law, but he plays Mac much quieter. Head down and shoulders slouched. Not defeated - he doesn't let Miller push him around - but tired. Like he knows this is all a bad idea, but maybe he can keep his friend alive.
Broadly, the film is about how dirty and messy all this political squabbling is. How temporary alliances are, how easily people turn on others. The CIA hires the company to protect Chung (the CIA also accounts for 11% of the company's annual revenue), but make it clear they just don't want him dying on American soil. Once he's out of the country, they don't care. Or more accurately, the CIA guy's attitude suggests they'll probably try to kill Chung, once he's far enough away they have deniability.
George changed sides for money. Mike's boss, Cap, bemoans that the world belongs to men like George, and that heroes are on the way out. Then turns out to be a traitor, but his boss doesn't really care beyond it might affect the company's bottom line. He was ready to throw Mike away when he assumed there was no coming back from the injuries, but now that Mike's proven otherwise, well, would he like Cap's job?
Mike seems disgusted by all this, but also ridicules Chung's idealism. When the leader of the ninja challenges Chung to a swordfight, Chung accepts rather than let Mike just shoot the guy. He says if he loses, he's not the man his country needs. There's probably a fair point that his value to his nation lies in something other than his facility with a blade, but I don't think that's the argument Mike's making. He just thinks it's dumb to risk your life over things like national pride, in a world where loyalty is bought and sold so easily.
Which makes it seem like everything is on a personal level for Mike. The politics don't matter, the money doesn't matter. But he doesn't really seem to be out for vengeance. He decks Miller when Miller gets George, but I don't think it's because he wanted more info. George already told who hired him, whether Mike believed it or not. Unless he wanted to understand why George let him live, but again, I think George explained that he felt enough camaraderie to not want to kill Mike. Maybe he's mad he couldn't beat George personally, but he put together the team that beat George, out of guys the company would never have used. That ought to count for something, even if Mike doesn't seem to understand the people he chose.
He's constantly frustrated Miller is so quick to shoot, so casual brandishing his guns in public. Except Cap described Miller as nuts when Mike mentioned him, and Miller repeated it when Mike approached him. Then Mike does the shocked Pikachu face when Miller turns out to be trigger happy. It's like the only criteria Mike used in picking his team was guys on the outs with the company.
The big fight aboard the ship is kind of a mess. All these ninjas, just charging at guys with guns and getting shot up in slow-motion. Mac at one point just picks a ninja up, carries him to the railing, and dumps him over the side like a sack of garbage. Maybe there was meant to be contrast between the code of these men and guys like Mike and George, but the film didn't go into enough depth about the ninjas to really sell that notion. It feels like there's gotta be some thematic reason for using them, but I can't see it.
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