[NoHo Arts District, CA] – In this month’s movie and TV reviews blog, The Killer!
Exhibit C: There has been talk about a remake of John Woo’s 1989 action classic The Killer, and wouldn’t you know, The Killer is here, and Woo has directed it. It’s a re-imagining of the original tale: there is still the killer who wants to retire after a hit leaves an unintended, “innocent” survivor, an implacable cop determined to hunt down the killer, and the killer’s bosses who are disappointed, to say the least. Only here, the setting is Paris, the killer is female (Nathalie Emmanuel), her employer is Sam Worthington (with menace and Irish brogue to spare), and the cop with whom she forms a bond is Omar Sy, who for various reasons feels like an outsider among his fellow gendarmes. The three leads are exceptional, with Emmanuel and Sy exhibiting some a natural rapport that one hopes that this new Killer (not to be confused with the 2023 David Fincher Killer) might have a “revamped” conclusion also. The action sequences are violent, superbly choreographed, and pretty innovative. John Woo may be 77, but this is anything but an “old man’s” work. It’s vigorous, well-executed—and worth the time in theaters (if only it was headed there, instead of on Peacock).