The Killer
The Killer
Prolific action director John Woo’s newage depiction of his 1989 classic ‘The Killer’ considering all factors is not a success. As the action of the film takes place in Paris instead of Hong Kong, the character which earned Chow Yan Fat fame as a poster boy of the genre is played by Nathalie Emmanuel. Now this on its own should not rub the majority the wrong way except for the army of malepercent who froth at the mouth whenever anything masculine is counterbalanced by a feminine reproduction of it. Emmanuel is good here and not the film’s primary problem. The problem however is the lack of artistic direction in the action sequence. All murderous stylistic clichés are checked in the course of The Killer, but let us not pretend we haven’t seen this picture already.
Zee (Emmanuel) reviews her mission with her undercover officer in an abandoned church. A few of Woo’s obligatory pigeons are seen flying about the dusty stained glass windows as Finn (Sam Worthington) addresses his most lethal assassin with her new job. There is one thing, Finn points out, and that is no one in the room is to be left alive. Zee dismissively questions whether they should even die in the first place. Finn openly dismisses her misgivings in one sentence. There are no fools in this room who risk execution without any cause.
Zee, now disguised for the operation, sneaks into the VIP room of a nightclub. As expected, she is stripped down and checked, but she is not hiding any arms. The degenerates are transfixed, gluttonous, over her while another equally stunning dancer up center stage is performing (Diana Silvers). The bad boys come back to their senses when Zee unsheathes a sword hidden in her gown. She behaves like a dancer but a dancer who has no qualms about murdering everyone in her way.
As expected, panic seizes the singer as she takes a backward tumble onto the stage. She lies just inches above Zee’s target and raises herself for the final blow only to stop Kurz as if possessed. The impact had robbed the poor singer of her eyesight. She never got to see the so-called “Queen of the Dead.”
There fans of the original ones will notice that this turning point is important. It transforms Zee’s destiny in the way that she could never expect it to be. She does not even guess what whirlwind of hell is set upon this world after the frightened girl is taken in to lend her a hand. Finn and his powerful master are not about to allow anything to come full-circle. Saving the singer presents gay fatalism. Zee has to make the decision to either go and kill that target or be the number one hunted woman in Paris. Inspector Sey (Omar Sy) and his partner (Grégory Montel) have already launched an investigation concerning the public “assassin” who wrecked the club.
Let’s begin with what we know that works. Emmanuel is capable of performing in a very active position. She’s not merely the help and bloody escaped prisoner who transforms enemies into bullet ridden carcasses. Zee knows her business in close combat even without the guns, and all other weapons. She could go for a kidney with a spoon if that’s what it comes to. Law enforcement agencies know that the “Queen of the Dead” is among them, however, her image and form remain a mystery to the police. Easier to go incognito than to disguise oneself – she possesses this skill brilliant.
Sey is a competent first opponent who tries to see the actual face behind the legend of the assassin. There is enough humor and almost affectionate tension in their cat and mouse game. Sey understands that the murders in the club are just the beginning. The real ones who control the poisons need to be found. The blind singer is still the most promising lead so far, but what can she say? What’s stopping the murderer from letting her walk away? It has to mean that she doesn’t have the savage as mars]). Their relationship brings the same aspects of dynamics as in the interactions between Chow and Danny Lee’s Detective Ying opposite in the 1989 Ee Chai Dong.
The Killer takes a different route and heads to the south, well let us relate it to above and let it go as law enforcement has been there, done that. Woo has manages to add all his action hallmarks. It’s just too worn out with new colors and people. To be more specific, that actually never becomes the case in this movie. As usual, Zee and Sey’s work drives the corpses into the morgue. Only that is what all the other films which have a similar story line do not approach, so there film. There isn’t even a single action scene which one can point out which tries to do something new, exciting and different other than the norm. Woo remains conventional when it comes to the core of the film while audience was waiting for bigger and bolder. That in fact is a pretty big let down and I feel it can’t be understated.
This is sad because the second act in The Killer establishes a syndrome which every film with similar style must contain. Here I would sign more than once a night, why prolong trying. This issue is further complicated by sequences of her working on building up warmth with the singer. That fared better in the source material since Chow’s and Sally Yeh’s Jennie fall in love while being on the run. Their love story is an essential element of the success of that film. That route is not taken in the reboot, and it loses an important component of the story.
Sam Worthington is a capable actor. He has performed in some of the best movies of all time. Not so for Finn, whose reason for being there is to be the villain and falls flat on all fronts like a falling butterfly. Whatever chemistry was believable between Zee and Sey, particularly with Finn is totally absent. Even his pet peeve, that’s what his pet name calls her but in an Irish accent – a feeble stress, sounds ridiculous. Compared to Finn, this is a harsh one, ‘s’ how tougher was the Finn’s character and the idea seems such a let down.
For those who are not purveyors’ of great art films, The Killer awaits disappointment when line by line version is compared to such action floored classic. John woo is one of the top action directors and his film should not have been credit with this film. No, very much no, woo does not strike gold again nor does go down the out completely. Such faux criticism and such faux comparison destroy any enjoyment. Quite a thing to do but yeah this film should be viewed without being influence by emotional attachment. Rectify that now, and there are fair to good chances this can be placitated without any efforts.
Watch free movies on Fmovies
- Genre: Action, Crime, Featured, Popular Movies, Thriller, Top Rated Movies
- Country: Canada, United States
- Director: John Woo
- Cast: Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy, Sam Worthington, Diana Silvers, Saïd Taghmaoui, Angeles Woo, Éric Cantona, Tchéky Karyo, Grégory Montel, Hugo Diego Garcia, Michaël Erpelding, Aurélia Agel, Guillaume Kerbusch, Fabrice Scott, Kelian Maréchaux, Elie Haddad, Lydie Muller, Etienne Guillou-Kervern, Vincent Winterhalter, Igor Skreblin, Octave Delepaule,
