Warning: Spoilers for The Killer (2024) below!
I wasn’t expecting John Woo’s long-delayed remake ofThe Killerto match the original, but I’m so glad it’s still an action delight. I saw the original film late at night on the UK’s Channel 4 back before I had any awareness ofJohn Woo moviesor Hong Kong cinema.The movie’s immense style, the exhilarating action and the incredible turn by leading man Chow Yun-fat combine to makeThe KillerWoo’s best movie, period. I soon sought out the rest of his work, includingHard Boiledand the first twoBetter Tomorrowmovies.
I’ll admit thatJohn Woo’s American movieoutput was a mixed bag. There were the highs ofFace/OffandHard Target, butPaycheckfelt like the title summed up the cast and crew’s participation in it. Woo is one of my all-time top directors, and while his work can be overly melodramatic, it can also be deeply emotional while delivering incredible action. There has been talk of aKillerremake for decades, with Walter Hill once set to direct Denzel Washington and Richard Gere. Decades later, Woo himself remixed the film that made him an icon.
The Killer Review: John Woo’s Energetic Action Remake Overcomes A Thin Plot With Explosive Action
The Killer is full of spectacular action from a legendary director, but the story lacks some coherency, making the overall experience less satisfying.
The Killer
Cast
The Killer, directed by John Woo, is a 1989 action film that stars Chow Yun-fat as a hitman seeking redemption after accidentally blinding a singer during a mission. As he tries to fund her eye surgery, he finds himself pursued by a determined police officer, played by Danny Lee, leading to a complicated relationship between hunter and hunted. The film is notable for its stylish action sequences and explores themes of honor and sacrifice.
The style and look of John Woo’s work started to seep into American movies during the early 1990s, most notably in the films of Quentin Tarantino and Tony Scott.
A lot has changed since Woo helmed the originalKillerin 1989. His vision of two-fisted gunplay,the white doves symbolism, and overly earnest dramatic scenes could look corny to viewers raised on a diet ofJohn Wick. Still, I know the impact ofThe Killerback when it arrived can be measured far beyond some film students having the poster on their walls. The style and look of Woo’s work started to seep into American movies during the early 1990s, most notably in the films of Quentin Tarantino - see the Mexican standoff inReservoir Dogs- and Tony Scott.
I’m also thinking of the use of slo-mo in the early films of Michael Bay (The Rock) or Robert Rodriguez’sDesperado. Woo’sThe KillerandHard Boiledwere seen as the height of cool during this period, and that influence extended from everything fromThe Matrixto theJohn Wickseries.I knew going into Peacock’sThe Killerthat no matter how good it was, it had zero chance of being nearly as influentialas the original.
To Woo’s credit, he seems to have realized this.The Killer 2024might broadly follow the same plot, but it takes the story in a different direction. Nathalie Emmanuel’s titular character is more emotionally open than Chow’s take, though they’re both snappy dressers. I love howWoo infused hisKillerreboot with a very European sensibility (including many homages to the French New Wave) which again sets it apart from the Hong Kong-set original,and it features a far more optimistic ending compared to the pitch black finale of the original.
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Woo was a working director for many years before his breakthrough with 1986’sA Better Tomorrow. This became an unexpected blockbuster and established many of his stylistic trademarks.A Better Tomorrowis also considered one of the founding films of the “Heroic Bloodshed” genre, which are often defined by doomed anti-heroes (be they gangsters, thieves, cops, etc) looking for redemption or honor amid epic gun battles. Most of the examples I can think of come from Hong Kong cinema, though 1998’sThe Replacement Killersimported the formula into an American film.
I’m glad to report that Woo’sThe Killer 2024resurrects Heroic Bloodshed after it essentially died years ago. The film is an unapologetic return to the themes and style of the genre, which even recent Woo outings likeManhuntonly touched on lightly. Whether this will lead to further outings from the subgenre is unknown, butone of the reasons I dug Woo’s remake was seeing Heroic Bloodshed making an overdue comeback by the filmmaker who essentially invented it.
Lupita Nyong’o was originally cast as Zee in Peacock’sThe Killerbut dropped out over scheduling conflicts.
The Killer 2024 Restored My Faith In John Woo
The Killer remake is Woo’s best film in 15 years
John Woo will always be one of my favorite directors, but ever since his fantastic two-part historical epicRed Cliffin 2009, it’s been tough to get excited about his work.Woo’s 2017 thrillerManhuntlacked both the style and energy of his best work, with even the action feeling stilted. I was hugely excited about his return to American filmmaking with 2023’s dialogue-freeSilent Night. However, that film strained to make its central gimmick work and was too dour and mean-spirited to prove much fun.
More than anything, The Killer 2024 makes me excited to see what John Woo does next…
This made me cautious aboutThe Killerremake, but I’m happy to report it’s a breezy good time. The action is slick, the cast is great, and while it doesn’t come close to the original’s classic status, it more than justifies its existence. More than anything, it makes me excited to see what John Woo does next, and according to aWrapinterview, it could either be a musical or a Western, which are two genres he should be very at home in.
In Woo’s reinvention of his own classic, Zee, aka the Queen of the Dead, is a contract killer who finds herself hunted by her former colleagues and the police after she fails to carry out the murder of a young woman.
