By Seth Lukas Hynes
The Killer
Starring Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy and Sam Worthington
MA15+
4/5
Directed by Hong Kong action legend John Woo (and a remake of Woo’s 1989 film of the same name), The Killer is a stylish, character-rich action-thriller.
An elite assassin named Zee (Nathalie Emmanuel) gets caught up in a far-reaching conspiracy after a hit goes wrong.
Emmanuel plays a sensitive but deadly action lead, and has electric chemistry with Omar Sy as Sey, a plucky, honourable cop on Zee’s trail.
During The Killer, I found myself thinking that Sy has the charisma and action chops to play James Bond (if only he wasn’t French).
Sam Worthington plays Zee’s handler Finn with sinister poise (and a slightly shaky Irish accent).
The Killer has strong forward momentum, but it’s refreshing to see a modern action film know when to calm down for compelling dialogue and character growth.
The riveting action features cool stunts and pyrotechnics (offset by some distracting CGI blood) and dashes of humour, and is full of Woo’s trademark balletic violence and religious imagery.
The gunfights and hand-to-hand combat are brutal but cleanly-shot and easy to follow, and the taut final showdown (set in a church, like so many Woo battles) is one of the most awesome action sequences of the
year.
The Killer follows in the footsteps of other films remade by their own directors.
Alfred Hitchcock remade his 1934 film The Man Who Knew Too Much in 1956, Cecil B. Demille made two versions of The Ten Commandments – silent in 1923, and with sound and colour in 1956 – and Michael Mann remade his 1989 TV movie L.A. Takedown as Heat in 1995.
An enthralling and charming thriller, The Killer is available for streaming on Netflix, but it’s a travesty that this didn’t get a wider cinema release.
