The Killer (2024)
August 25, 2024 9:10 AM - Subscribe

An assassin tries to make amends in an effort to restore the sight of a beautiful young singer. Remake of the 1989 John Woo film, starring Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy.
posted by rednikki (8 comments total)
 
I am going to go against some of the reviews; this version fixed some of the problems with the original (for starters, it gave the singer a character and a backstory and fixed the bloody awful final three minutes). The action scenes weren’t as startling mostly because action has gotten so much more intense since the original film. Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy had great (non-romantic!) chemistry. It made me wish this was the pilot for a series because I’d love to see more of them, in these roles, playing off each other. Definitely worth streaming!
posted by rednikki at 9:10 AM on August 25 [1 favorite]


Saw this yesterday in theatre.

Might be the John Woo’iest movie ever to woo John, but a lot of fun.

Pigeons, golden hour, slow-motion-double-pistols-midair, and (slightly-irritatingly) unrealistic city geography during chases, but who cares — a fun ride!
posted by Seeba at 9:41 AM on August 25 [2 favorites]


> It made me wish this was the pilot for a series

Ditto! Never lose hope, 'Once a Thief' (1991/ 1996) got the treatment previously.

Definitely, the Singer role was given a lot more actual agency. I did miss a homage to the final bloody minutes though.
posted by porpoise at 12:03 PM on August 25


The end of the original version totally mystified me. There's room for improvement there, for sure.
posted by abraxasaxarba at 5:08 PM on August 25 [1 favorite]


I thought it was a fairly straightforward mythological/ heroic tragedy (with a little bit of irony). Ships passing in the night.

The villain not getting away with it is a John Woo trope, but the specifics of the fallout differs. In this case, forbidden brotherhood and sacrificing oneself for justice.

The implication at the end for me was the Jenny gets her fancy cornea transplants in the US, eventually, and continues on with her life.

The Killer retires as a blinded (perhaps not completely?) assassin, but a free man. Somehow (he's able to return to the site across from the church, but not the church itself). Or he's a tragic ghost.
posted by porpoise at 7:11 PM on August 25


Porpoise, in the original, Ah Jong is first blinded (destroying the corneas he was going to donate to save Jenny’s vision), and he dies after Jenny crawls past him. He didn’t complete the contract so there is no money to fix her vision. And Lee Ying shot the head of the gang in front of the cops (because the gang leader says he won’t even go to jail because corruption), so he’s definitely going to jail at minimum. The point of the original ending is that everyone loses. It’s why I liked this better.
posted by rednikki at 6:30 AM on August 26 [1 favorite]


Watched this over the weekend. It's fun enough. We kinda tuned out during the non-action sections, but the action was pretty sweet. Like others have said, it's John Woo's greatest hits. Everything is very operatic and over the top. I don't think Nathalie Emmanuel was great casting, though. She was fine, but felt flat compared to everyone and everything else in the movie.
posted by mrphancy at 10:50 AM on August 26


I just watched it on streaming and am kind of furious about the whole “charming tic” of the killer being based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how crosswords work. There can’t be “only one clue you can’t get” in a crossword! For the final thing, there are five — she has to miss four down words to also not get the six-letter across with two letters solved.

It’s just not how crosswords work! Gah!
posted by Shepherd at 2:50 AM on September 28 [1 favorite]


« Older Movie: Riddle of Fire...   |  Special Event: All Elite Wrest... Newer »

You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments

poster