This movie is laughably bad. Oh my goodness.

It’s nice to see Nathalie Emmanuel outside of the Furiously Fast series and it’s nice seeing Omar Sy and Sam Worthington again but this movie just steadily gets more campy and more cringe and more stupid as it progresses. The best scene is probably the club hit early on, and it gives you a false sense that the movie is going to be better than the poster – it isn’t. In that respect, The Killer (2024) reminds me of Smile (2022). Folks went crazy for Smile. Smile went downhill after the opening scene and never recovered.

I watched Silent Night (2023). It wasn’t horrible, but maybe John Woo should’ve stopped with that.

I don’t care that the story isn’t original, I care that the script is poorly written and the direction is lackluster. Zee is poorly written, Sey is poorly written, Jenn is poorly written, and Finn says “Kushala Daora” one-two many times. Jax is probably the best written character and he’s on-screen for like 5 minutes total.

I got the impression early on that they were going for a Killing Eve (2018-2022) vibe, but yeah, no. It’s just sad.

Can someone competent take this cast, this concept – this “Queen of the Dead” idea, and do it properly?

If you’re looking for some female-led assassin action, check out The Protégé (2021) which wasn’t a masterpiece but it was more entertaining than this, Anna (2019), Salt (2010), Red Sparrow (2018), or Atomic Blonde (2017).

Yes, we all needed another “girl boss” flick to spark our inner woke, didn’t we?

What’s that you say, “hell no”, well then, read on. The Killer starts off with a main character, an assassin no less, who comes across as being about as tough and intimidating, as a bowl of warm mashed potato. But hey, she has a punch bag in her bohemian bedsit. Not to mention a handler who looks like he can, in fact, handle himself.

Indeed, the underlying strategy seems to be to use visually gritty characters and cues, to drown out the entirely non-threatening nature of the lead character. Its a bit like sitting a potted rose down with pots of cacti, in the hope people will inexplicably mistake one, for the other.

As you might expect, the results another absurdly unconvincing, predominantly exposition driven, affair, that would, I feel have only worked if re-imagined as a satirical comedy.

That’s not to say this is the fault of the actors. Its a decent cast, who have found themselves mis-cast, no doubt, I’m guessing, so the script can play gender politics. Suffice to say, the quality acting, is one of the limited upsides, of this flick.

In summary, no amount of suspension of disbelief, will make this work.I personally wonder why they persist, when everything I see, seems to suggest the viewing public have thoroughly rejected, the DEI agenda, in favour of a return to traditional, sensible, entertainment.

John Woo Paint by numbers.
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.

I’d rather take my face off
Let’s start with…if you’re a fan of the original The Killer 1989, then you will absolutely hate this movie. It’s just downright silly. This is 2 hours I will never get back. The action is made for tv movie bad. The acting is lazy. I feel like if you are remaking a classic, maybe Peacock is the wrong way to go. Nathalie Emmanuel who plays the tittle role really doesn’t belong here. She never convinces the audience that she is The Killer. There is no chemistry between her and Omar Sy who plays the cop. I guess Sam Worthington got the day off from filming Avatar and somewhat phoned in his part of the villain. Please skip this and watch anything else. Actually, you can catch the original The Killer (1989) on some streaming services. Highly recommend that movie.

Yes, we all needed another “girl boss” flick to spark our inner woke, didn’t we?

What’s that you say, “hell no”, well then, read on. The Killer starts off with a main character, an assassin no less, who comes across as being about as tough and intimidating, as a bowl of warm mashed potato. But hey, she has a punch bag in her bohemian bedsit. Not to mention a handler who looks like he can, in fact, handle himself.

Indeed, the underlying strategy seems to be to use visually gritty characters and cues, to drown out the entirely non-threatening nature of the lead character. Its a bit like sitting a potted rose down with pots of cacti, in the hope people will inexplicably mistake one, for the other.

As you might expect, the results another absurdly unconvincing, predominantly exposition driven, affair, that would, I feel have only worked if re-imagined as a satirical comedy.

That’s not to say this is the fault of the actors. Its a decent cast, who have found themselves mis-cast, no doubt, I’m guessing, so the script can play gender politics. Suffice to say, the quality acting, is one of the limited upsides, of this flick.

In summary, no amount of suspension of disbelief, will make this work.I personally wonder why they persist, when everything I see, seems to suggest the viewing public have thoroughly rejected, the DEI agenda, in favour of a return to traditional, sensible, entertainment.

This movie is laughably bad. Oh my goodness.

It’s nice to see Nathalie Emmanuel outside of the Furiously Fast series and it’s nice seeing Omar Sy and Sam Worthington again but this movie just steadily gets more campy and more cringe and more stupid as it progresses. The best scene is probably the club hit early on, and it gives you a false sense that the movie is going to be better than the poster – it isn’t. In that respect, The Killer (2024) reminds me of Smile (2022). Folks went crazy for Smile. Smile went downhill after the opening scene and never recovered.

I watched Silent Night (2023). It wasn’t horrible, but maybe John Woo should’ve stopped with that.

I don’t care that the story isn’t original, I care that the script is poorly written and the direction is lackluster. Zee is poorly written, Sey is poorly written, Jenn is poorly written, and Finn says “Kushala Daora” one-two many times. Jax is probably the best written character and he’s on-screen for like 5 minutes total.

I got the impression early on that they were going for a Killing Eve (2018-2022) vibe, but yeah, no. It’s just sad.

Can someone competent take this cast, this concept – this “Queen of the Dead” idea, and do it properly?

If you’re looking for some female-led assassin action, check out The Protégé (2021) which wasn’t a masterpiece but it was more entertaining than this, Anna (2019), Salt (2010), Red Sparrow (2018), or Atomic Blonde (2017).

John Woo Paint by numbers.
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.

Solid fresh take on a classic
Where the original was a bombastic melodrama of violence and honor, this update is a distinctly European ballet of bloodshed and redemption. It owes as much to Woo’s own films as it does those of Luc Besson. This version is elegant with a feminine touch. It’s a battle of the sexes, with a parade of brutish men (good and bad) rampaging through Paris and a sleek female assassin killing by a moral code.

This Killer is given more motivation and backstory than her predecessor in the original film and we understand what kind of person she is and what motivates her. Woo’s signature style and meticulously choreographed set pieces remain impressive but what both hurts and helps the film is the lack of grit. Woo’s characters are near indestructible in his Hong Kong films, riddled with bullet holes before succumbing. Instead of thematic masculine power, there is agility and grace from our heroine. Yet it’s all too clean and talky which defuses a the desperation that made the original pulse pounding.

That is not to say it isn’t entertaining. There’s a banter between the cop and the killer that is a game of chess rather than the borderline testosterone bond of rye original. There’s a distinct French style which is fitting considering Woo’s original The Killer was heavily influenced by the French classic Le Samourai. The acting is universally strong, there is more story and interesting twists than the original and the action (although there should be more of it) is very good. Finally the conclusion is far more satisfying. The finale is good but no where at the level of Woo’s fantastic original film’s finale but the final moments of epilogue is less oppressive. Or maybe the two different styles just required different resolutions.

It’s a very cool movie but with less urgency than its predecessor. It has new twists and turns and is a very French thriller rather than a Hong Kong one. Don’t dismiss it. Woo proves he still has much to offer and even this far into his career is open to attempting new tricks.