The Killer (2024) – A Slight But Decently Enjoyable Remake

Remakes are a dime a dozen in Hollywood these days but what made The Killer so intriguing is that…it’s being remade by its original director. 1989’s Hong Kong action masterpiece The Killer is arguably John Woo’s greatest work, a heroic bloodshed melodrama about a killer with a heart of gold trying to save a nightclub singer he accidentally blinded during a job and ends up finding brotherhood with the cop on his trail. A remake of The Killer has been in development hell almost as long as the first film has existed, being tossed around through so many filmmakers and actors that it has inexplicably looped back around to John Woo himself. While carrying the same name and familiar plot beats, The Killer (2024) is more of a re-imagining than a straight remake that sees Woo’s story transplanted from 1980s Hong Kong to modern day Paris with a gender swapped casting.

The Killer stars Nathalie Emmanuel as Zee, a former street kid taken in by Finn (Worthington), an Irish mob boss who transformed her into France’s elite assassin, the elusive “Queen of Death”. Zee lives a solitude life by a code of honour, “do they deserve this death?” she asks Finn before every hit, promising her that no innocents will ever be involved. Taking on a routine hit against gangsters in a nightclub, Zee dispatches everyone in the room (as the contract states) but spares the life of the singer, blinded amidst the chaos. Having broken her contract and torn between her duty and what’s right, Zee is now being hunted by her former bosses wanting the singer dead and by the cops, led by Inspector Sey (Sy), a brash take action police officer always pissing off his superiors.

Forgoing the ultra violent passion, romantic longing and homoeroticism of the original, The Killer adopts a far more breezy and playful tone. The relationship between cop and killer being less heated and more friendly from the start, a natural chemistry develops between Zee and Sey minus any romantic or sexual tensions. For a filmmaker who’s long been inspired by the 60s French crime thrillers (in particular Melville’s Le Samouraï, Woo’s favourite film), the chance to finally film in Paris must have been a treat for the filmmaker who depicts Paris as romanticized as he can given the budget constraints of a streaming original.

Woo is a master of action, arguably the most influential action director of our time. Those expecting Woo at the height of his powers will be disappointed, but those who missed the Woo-iness in last year’s Silent Night will be pleased to see the return of the doves, Christian symbolism and slow-motion dual wielding of guns. The film’s ultra-digital look does diminish some of Woo’s stylistic tics compared to the shot on film originals (where the blend of high speed action, sparks and squibs flying and slow-motion was rendered with just enough blur due to the format to give it an expressionistic quality) where everything being rendered in such clarity robs it of such a quality.

Seeing such classic Woo style in modern day still excites and with the advent of digital, he experiments formally with POV shots and aspect ratio shifting split screen work which prove to be interesting tools in his arsenal that he deploys during action and montage sequences. Ultimately, where The Killer does falter is in its script which, while perfunctory, adds some interesting wrinkles to the original story, lacks the same burning passion and emotion which heightened the drama and action of the original to such glorious heights. Woo’s visual style and stylistic tics have remained steadfast but what were iconic and oft-homaged images are rendered inelegant by a script that literalizes their meaning as characters explain the visual metaphors to the audience.

The Killer is an enjoyable romp through Woo’s classic style with enjoyably over the top action scenes as only he can do. Emmanuel and Sy make a likeable enough pairing and handle themselves well in the action, but the story fails to make the same impact. The end result is a fun albeit slight experience that’s unlikely to leave much of an impact, but for those looking for a fun action film to throw on this weekend, they could do a lot worse. For those looking for the original 1989 film, it is currently out of print and not legally available due to rights issues.

still courtesy of NBCUniversal

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Alex Josevski

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