The Killer

I realise that John Woo is an iconic director, mainly because of his run of funky HK triad gunslinger movies, but whoever put this remake together skimped on the screenwriting, and the script. The direction is ok, but with the nagging feeling that the hourly rate there was also well shy of inspirational.

Every cliched character and trite line of dialogue feels disconnected, existing in isolation, awaiting their brief memetime on Tik Tok and Youtube.

Even the action felt kinda perfunctory, like a cheap sequel filmed in a hurry by an inferior production crew, with no sense of pride in their accomplishments. "Two more flash-cut car chases, an MMA ruck in a public space, a slow-mo bullet time shootout, and we're done, chaps".

What it resembles, more than anything, is a low-budget 80s Eurocrime actioner, with a mismatched Euro-cast, and a script straight out of Babelfish, tarted up in post to look vaguely modern. Unfortunately, it ends up looking like a badly animated storyboard.

Let me beging by saying I love John Woo, Omar Sy, and Nathalie emmanuel, but this movie doesn't go anywhere, do anything, or offer up anything in the way of real entertainment aside from the good action sequences that stitch the diolgue sections together. In fact were it not for these three actors the movie would be immeasurably worse. I'll try to be conciese here.

The plot is simply ridiculous. Who decided to make a movie on a story so preposterous? Just imagine how good this movie might have been if the person creating and detailing the plot had an imagination, a lick of common sense, or a brain to create a proper conept. I'll not go into detail but suffice to say the story isn't worthy of any of the talent enlisted in the movie, nor does it conjure up the slightest modicum of interest, intrigue or investment in emotion.

The actors do a good job with the meterial... such as it is, but nothing can rescue this plot from the underhand vice of creativity that is lacking. Sam worthington is a very capable actor; I like him, and in spite of his relegation to mostly lower profile movie categories in the past few years, his talent nevertheless persists. Here he's cast as an Irishman, and I'm not even sure if he's supposed to be Northern or Southern but not only is his accent is terrible, but the requirement to have him play an Irish national at all is mind boggling. It has no relevance to the proceedings and only makes sense if confusing the audience with what he's actually saying is by design. In his first scene I wondered if he was speaking turkish, I kid you not! I could not understand a word he was saying.

Woo does a good job with the action sequences and to be fair, as an action flick and in dipicting excitement and intensity in general, especially the relevant places, it does well. The shots are great, the actors do well with the sequences, and movie comes alive considerably, but there isn't anything pinning this together except a stupid story that lulls atrociously outside these spaces where Woo's influence isn't primarily on display. "Between the panels" It's just rubbish.

Shame really as I had high hopes for this one. Yes they should have had a better plot, writers etc, but this is where we are and unfortunately as I've said, as an entertainment piece there is little on offer.

There are some good points though, Emmanuel is delectable in much of the attire she dons and indeed there are some nice shots in the movie which can be appreciated outside of the project as a whole, hence my 5/10

Still, that said, watching it is a not much more than a waste of time.

Hard to believe this is John Woo movie. Perhaps he doesn't care much more about the script and it's all about style and filming and little else. Every cliche is pulled out of movie history, as our hardened killer has mercy on the innocent girl. It was put together to also present the battle of the non non binary lesbians. It's not meant to be a slight on lgbtq people, there was just no reason to have them in there and it is never explained. Some nonsense about the beating of Sam worthington's heart, in his attempt to do an Irish accent.

All the good reviews here are fake. This is a shell of what good films used to be. You seen it all before and just much better done.

John Woo's "The Killer" 2024 had been highly anticipated by action movie enthusiasts and fans of the director's previous works. However, upon watching it, one can't help but feel a sense of disappointment. This film falls short on several fronts.

First and foremost, the plot was unimaginative and predictable after the first main action scene. It seems as if the filmmakers were trying to be overly complex in an attempt to create a deep and engaging narrative. Instead, it results in a jumbled mess that leaves the audience uninterested. There are too many subplots and twists that don't add much value to the overall story. For instance, a side story involving a character's personal vendetta takes up a significant amount of screen time but fails to contribute meaningfully to the main plot.

The character development is also lacking. The protagonist, who is supposed to be a complex and intriguing anti-hero, comes across as one-dimensional. We don't get a sense of her motivations or inner conflicts beyond the surface-level action. The supporting characters are equally underdeveloped, with little to no backstory or personality. This makes it difficult for the audience to connect with or care about any of the characters.

Another major issue is the action sequences. While John Woo is known for his stylish and intense action scenes, in "The Killer" 2024, they seem repetitive and lack the innovation and excitement of his earlier works. The gunfights and choreographed fights are predictable and don't offer any new or fresh elements. It feels like we've seen these same types of action scenes countless times before. Pigeons, doves, churches etc.

The pacing of the film is off as well. There are long stretches where not much happens, and then suddenly there's an explosion of action that feels rushed. This uneven pacing makes it hard for the audience to stay engaged throughout the movie. A woman of 5.7 135lb beating a 6 foot 220lbs man in unarmed combat is still unbelievable.

Furthermore, the cinematography, which is usually a highlight in Woo's films, is unimpressive in this one. The lighting and color palette don't create the mood and atmosphere that one would expect from a John Woo movie.

In conclusion, "The Killer" 2024 is a letdown. With its boring and predictable plot, underdeveloped characters, repetitive action sequences, off pacing, and lackluster cinematography, it fails to live up to the expectations set by John Woo's previous masterpieces. It's a movie that leaves the audience longing for the director's past glory days and wondering what went wrong.

It's not the worst thing you can watch. It has its moments. Every once in a while it wakes up and remembers it's an action movie. The rest of the time it's down wallowing in a rut of character moments that try too hard to convince us that we should care about these characters. Sam Worthington does a terrible Irish accent despite his character having no reason to be Irish.

The action is fun, everything else is boring because despite the effort it's hard to care about these characters and what they're going through. It's Jon Woo without the charm. It can't shake off the wrapper of NBC TV production despite desperately trying.