Any remake of The Killer (even one directed by the original film’s director, John Woo) was doomed to fail, if only because it would inevitably suffer from comparison to the original classic. The Killer was the film that raised the bar for action films, not only as spectacle, but as art. As much as I tried to divorce myself from the first film, it just wasn’t happening. Maybe it would’ve helped if this one wasn’t so mindbogglingly awful.
The bare bones of the story are the same. A killer accidentally blinds a lounge singer while on a job. They then have to dodge a crafty cop looking to bring them down.
The big difference is that this killer is a woman (Nathalie Emmanuel). I guess they thought this would appeal to the PC crowd, but it’s just another instance of change for change’s sake. It doesn’t help that she isn’t a remotely interesting character either as the dumbed down script underlines and italicizes all her motives. (She only kills people who deserve it because… you know… God forbid the audience might side with a killer who might be morally ambiguous.) It also doesn’t help that you never buy Emmanuel in the role. If you were going to remake The Killer with a female lead, get a badass in there like Charlize Theron or Michelle Yeoh. If I was casting this thing, the twelfth billed costar of the last couple of Fast and Furious movies wouldn’t even have been in my top 100 candidates. I don’t think she could carry a bag of groceries, let alone an action movie, let alone a remake of one of the greatest action movies of all time.
Then again who could possibly fill Chow Yun Fat’s shoes? When you watch him in the OG Killer you are watching THE BADDEST MOTHERFUCKER TO EVER LIVE. So yeah, I don’t envy anyone who has to follow his lead. However, the film needed someone with some kind of screen presence to carry the movie. Or at least looks the part. (Try to count all the times she flinches while firing her gun.)
Then, there’s Diana Silvers as the lounge singer. Woof. Man. She sounds like someone who just went through a massive dental procedure that tried to do amateur karaoke with a mouth full of Novocain. Her absolute butchering of “Live for Today” is a crime against not only music, but sound in general. The Grass Roots should fucking sue. I guess it would be one thing if she was just a bad singer, but she’s a bad actress to boot. I’ve seen better performances in Tubi Originals.
Another change is the setting. Now it takes place in Paris. You know. For reasons.
The most infuriating difference is that the Shakespearean ending of the original has been changed. (Read: RUINED.)
If anyone other than Woo directed this, it would’ve been easy to shrug off. However, his participation makes the whole ordeal even that much inexplicable. The action ranges from mediocre to pedestrian, and the callbacks to the original just underline just how misguided this whole enterprise was.
You know you’re in trouble when charisma vacuum Sam Worthington gives the best performance of the movie.
I dunno man. Maybe Tarantino is right. Maybe directing is a young man’s game. Maybe Wood should’ve quite while he was ahead.
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