‘The Killer’ (2024) Review – A Woo-Ful Shell Of Itself

For some reason, you may have had high hopes for the legendary action auteur returning to the cinema with a remake of one of his classics, the 1989 Hong Kong action film The Killer. It’s not uncommon for someone to remake a classic, even though we all know they should remake a bad movie instead of a good one, but it is for that director to remake his own film for streaming.

One could argue that updated technology and a socially conscious society could breathe new life into the story. Or maybe John Woo brought The Killer back because he does something we all do—he wanted the money.

Gone are the gritty homages that John Woo’s originally paid to Jean-Pierre Melville and Martin Scorsese. They have been replaced by Peacock’s carnival-like bright colors, underwhelming acting, stilted slow-motion sequences, and deliberately lethargic stylized action that is inconsistent. Honestly, The Killer feels more like a storyboard concept of a USA Network television pilot than a fully realized film.

Nathalie Emmanuel, known for The Fast and the Furious franchise, takes over the Chow Yun-fat role as Zee, a cunning assassin employed by Jax (Grégory Montel), the Godfather of the Paris underworld. The problem is that the man in charge seems to have no idea who that is. Jax’s right-hand man, Finn (Sam Worthington), is his second-in-command. He plucked Zee out of a life of physical abuse and drug use, somehow turning her into a cold-blooded killer.

Yet, the script by Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell, and Matt Stuecken skips over how this transformation was accomplished. (Apparently, they just gave her a gun, which became an extension of herself?) After Zee kills off a gang of thieves, she leaves a cocktail lounge singer alive, who suffers from onset blindness (played by Space Force’s Diana Silvers). This makes Zee a target for her employers and the cop on the case (Omar Sy).

The first act of The Killer is intriguing, especially with Emmanuel’s exciting action scene setup. Letting Silvers’ character live and introducing her to Sy’s detective in a flirtatious banter is a lot of fun. Frankly, you wish they had explored additional Mr. & Mrs. Smith romantic tension. However, the film soon falls into predictable action clichés and massive plot holes that a snowplow could drive through.

It’s never a good sign when a script—as light as The Killer—is written by three different writers. Helgeland, whose pedigree includes L.A. Confidential and Mystic River, also has credits like Spencer Confidential and Payback, lighter action films that can become grating and tiresome. In fact, The Killer embodies something previously unimaginable—a half-hearted John Woo experience.

The Killer is an erratic action film with a few thrills but lacks a significant payoff. The acting is dreadful in parts. There is a scene where Sy gets stabbed a dozen times and looks bored. Then, Silvers is jaw-droppingly caught looking at Sy while lying on the ground. However, the real shocker is the squandering of the legendary director’s highly stylized action, leaving the final product with a surprising lack of energy.

Unfortunately, The Killer is the most lackluster film of John Woo’s illustrious career, failing to live up to the high standards set by his previous works.

John Woo’s The Killer (2024) is now available to stream on Peacock.