With a fresh reinterpretation of The Killer, John Woo mints another action star

It’s not unheard of for a director to remake one of their most important works. However it’s uncommon for it to work out in addition to John Woo’s remake of his traditional hitman action film The Killer.

Michael Haneke famously gave it a go together with his shot-for-shot English-language remake of his disturbing 1997 meta slasher Humorous Video games. Olivier Assayas lately remade his 1996 masterpiece Irma Vep into an intriguing however largely much less profitable HBO present. However with Woo’s new model of The Killer, launched on Peacock in late August, the godfather of the heroic bloodshed style exhibits he’s nonetheless acquired it, each as a technical grasp of the style and as a minter of new action stars.

Woo returned to Hollywood for the primary time in 20 years together with his 2023 revenge thriller Silent Night time, which pits a mute protagonist in opposition to a violent gang. Whereas the silent gimmick and the relentless bleakness of the narrative held that film again from being an all-out success, Woo’s management of action sequences — how they appear, sound, and really feel — remained unparalleled. Whilst a die-hard fan of the unique The Killer, I used to be excited by the prospect of returning to a extra acquainted Woo setting with promising new actors within the iconic roles.

As reviewers have been fast to level out, The Killer (2024) doesn’t match the Everest-like heights of The Killer (1989) — the unique is one of the slickest, most atmospheric motion pictures of all time, and was one of a group of wonderful collaborations between Woo and action star Chow Yun-fat that helped elevate each to world stardom. Attempting to match the unique Killer beat for beat like Haneke did with Humorous Video games could be a mistake, even for a grasp like Woo. As a substitute, Woo makes use of the naked bones of the narrative and characters to make a new expertise, one which looks like a throwback to his dual-wielding, dove-flapping days of yore — however with a fresh new spin on the action.

It’s additionally almost not possible to look at the unique film. 1989’s The Killer isn’t out there to digitally lease or stream anyplace; the Criterion Assortment’s model is out of print; the final bodily copy launched within the States was a 2010 DVD on The Weinstein Firm’s Dragon Dynasty label. Woo has needed to launch 4K restorations of some of his Hong Kong classics, together with The Killer, however says he can’t as a result of he doesn’t personal the licensing rights.

Like the unique film, this model of The Killer follows a contract killer who’s dissatisfied with life. Once they by accident blind a younger nightclub singer throughout a shootout, the prospect encounter forges a protecting relationship between the killer and the singer, resulting in an unlikely alliance between the killer and a police detective. All these notes are the identical, however with a new setting in Paris and new faces — Nathalie Emmanuel (Recreation of Thrones’ Missandei) is the contract killer, now named Zee. Omar Sy (Lupin) is the detective, Sey. And Diana Silvers (Area Power) is the younger singer, Jenn.

As you would possibly anticipate from a John Woo film, the action sequences are wonderful: automotive chases, shootouts in hospitals, sword fights, onerous stunt falls, the entire Woo expertise. They really feel appropriately harmful, massive in scope for a streaming film, and like a breath of fresh air after the green-screen-heavy action sequences of many trendy blockbusters. In a single sequence, a automotive flips on its aspect after making contact with another automotive, then rolls into a motorcyclist who has fallen off their journey in anticipation of the impression. The impression between rolling automotive and stunt performer is actual sufficient that it made me wonder if it was a deliberate half of the shot or a fortuitous roll of the automotive. However in the end, it doesn’t matter — the impact is heart-racing and visceral, and I instantly rewound to look at the stunt once more.

The shootouts are tense and balletic, with terrific sound design punctuations of gunfire, one thing that was additionally a energy in Silent Night time. The loud bangs play nicely off the dramatic, moody rating from composer Marco Beltrami, which, just like the film, balances romance and pleasure with shades of classical orchestration and jazz. And the film simply seems nice, though it’s a straight-to-streaming manufacturing: The colours pop, town of Paris buzzes with life, and the best way Woo strikes his digital camera to comply with and increase the action is unparalleled.

However maybe the most important present of the brand new Killer is the minting of an action star. Emmanuel shines in earlier supporting roles in action-centric universes: Recreation of Thrones, the Quick and Livid motion pictures, Military of Thieves — however with The Killer, she lastly has the prospect to be a full-on action hero. And she or he makes essentially the most of it.

The struggle choreography employs Emmanuel’s dance background with nice success — Woo has aptly described her actions as “elegant.” She does a lot of her personal stunts within the film. As she instructed EW, “The way that John Woo likes to shoot lends to us doing as much of it as possible because of the way his camera moves. It’s often picking up a lot of things and switching between lots of things, so it has to be quite practical. […] I love using my body in this way in storytelling.” Seeing Emmanuel carry out intense jumps and flips mid-combat, just for the digital camera to carry on her face so she really did that is the type of exhilarating stuff nice action motion pictures are made of.

The film’s first prolonged action sequence includes each gunplay and hand-to-hand fight, as Zee makes use of swords and pistols to get rid of a group of thugs in a nightclub. She arrives on the membership in a stylish black get-up — scarf, fedora, and a lengthy black coat — feeling greater than a bit like a trendy model of authentic The Killer affect Alain Delon in Jean-Pierre Melville’s traditional Le Samouraï. Zee is straight away drawn by Jenn’s mournful ballad about “living for today,” which Emmanuel subtly communicates with the slightest motion of her eyes. It’s a temporary respite for a character who in any other case consistently scans rooms to plan for intense violence.

One standout second in a later sequence sees Emmanuel floating gracefully within the air, dispatching foes with dual-wielded pistols in a deconsecrated church as pigeons and doves fly round her. If that’s not John Woo, I don’t know what’s. However Woo isn’t content material to simply depend on his outdated staples — The Killer implements judo into the gunplay in a manner that feels indebted to the John Wick franchise, and the action doesn’t simply really feel like a rehash of Woo’s best hits.

Emmanuel excels as Zee past the action. The half duties her with enjoying many various variations of Zee in her relationships to different characters, and he or she delivers with layers of expression and emotional subtlety. With her manipulative handler Finn (Sam Worthington), she’s utterly closed off and robotic — a device for use for violence. With the singer Jenn, she’s tender and protecting, like a mild lover or a massive sister. With Sy’s charming detective, she’s a playful flirt and rival. It’s not an imitation of Chow’s ultra-cool efficiency within the 1989 film, however her personal spin on the conflicted killer archetype, and the result’s a delight. There can by no means be another Chow Yun-Fats, or another The Killer (1989). However The Killer (2024) has made it clear: There can even by no means be another Nathalie Emmanuel.

Bizarrely, The Killer (2024) now makes it three years in a row the place a film referred to as “The Killer” is one of my favorites of the 12 months, following David Fincher’s offbeat 2023 thriller and Choi Jae-hoon’s 2022 action romp. Whereas none of them can maintain a candle to John Woo’s authentic The Killer, one of the best and coolest movies of all time, they’re all nonetheless worthy additions to the style and the title.

John Woo’s 2024 The Killer is now streaming on Peacock.