John Woo was once known as the master of action cinema. His knack for beautifully crafted and stylized violence made him an international sensation with hits like The Killer (1989) and Hard Boiled before making the leap to Hollywood with Hard Target. His impact on the genre is undeniable, but following the critically panned, Ben Affleck-starring Paycheck the filmmaker went back to his Hong Kong roots and left the world of Hollywood behind him for two decades.
He returned to American audiences last year with the dialogue-free, Christmas-themed Silent Night — a film that I personally loved but that faced a rocky reception from most — and again in 2024 with The Killer, a remake of his ’89 classic. It’s always an interesting choice when a filmmaker remakes one of their own movies. Yasujiro Ozu remade his film A Story of Floating Weeds, and the second attempt is arguably the superior film; however, that’s not always the case, as Woo proves some things are better left untouched.
The Killer Review
The Killer features all of the hallmarks of a John Woo film. There are action set pieces in hospitals and churches, slow motion, stand-offs, and, of course, birds (mostly pigeons, but doves do make an appearance). It plays more like a “greatest hits” than as a standalone feature. The downside to pulling from his usual bag of tricks is that we’re constantly reminded of his better films. When two opponents inevitably find themselves face-to-face with their guns pointed squarely at one another, I’m left thinking about how epic that moment felt in Face/Off.
The film stars Nathalie Emmanuelle (Fast X) as Zee, the titular killer tasked with skillfully murdering anybody she’s told to by her handler, Finn (Sam Worthington). She makes enemies with all the wrong people when she fails to follow through on a contract and decides to protect a woman instead. It’s a standard plot rife with action potential, but the action feels watered down and generic, especially by the standards of a Woo film.
Audiences expecting the typical “gun-fu” of the filmmaker’s earlier works are bound to be disappointed. At no point are we treated to the beautiful ballet of bullets and choreography that we know the filmmaker is capable of, and this isn’t an elevated take on the genre. Still, there is plenty to be entertained by here. The cast, primarily Emmanuelle and Sey, bring a gravitas and charm to their characters that makes their relationship believable and interesting.
The action genre has evolved a lot over the decades. The John Wick films, starring Keanu Reeves, have become the benchmark for stylized action in recent years. That franchise undeniably owes a lot of its success to John Woo. The Killer feels like it’s trying to play ball on that level, but it’s not even in the same league. It’s not that it’s a terrible film; it’s that it’s an incredibly generic one and that’s somehow slightly more offensive.
Is The Killer worth watching?
John Woo isn’t just a master of action cinema; he’s a fan of it. His love for the genre shines through as he repeatedly pays homage to not only his own films but other classics. One stunt in particular is clearly inspired by Jackie Chan’s Police Story. Woo is not a man of subtlety, and you’ll find none here as he aggressively recreates the best moments of his earlier works. The Killer is an entertaining enough watch, but it’s one that you’ll almost certainly forget about the moment it ends.
5/10
The Killer is now streaming on Peacock.
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