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THE KILLER (2024)

Starring: Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy, Sam Worthington, and Diana Silvers
Director: John Woo

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AMARÚ

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Omar Sy and Nathalie Emmanuel can do (almost) no wrong. They’re two actors I thoroughly enjoy watching, no matter what they’re in, and are the predominant reasons I found entertainment in director John Woo’s remake of his own movie, The Killer. Individually, Sy is endearing and Emmanuel is intriguing. Together, their chemistry is delightfully playful, and it covers up the shoddy special effects and campy script that made me wonder whether Woo didn’t get a big enough budget, is losing his touch, or was always too damn dramatic for the U.S. With The Killer following Silent Night, I’m slightly worried about the answer.

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QUENTIN

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I have no idea why director John Woo decided to remake his own hard-boiled classic The Killer, and I especially don’t know why he traded in its gritty noir vibes for the kind of cheap-looking, ultra-glossy aesthetic you find almost exclusively on straight-to-streaming releases. But he did, and here we are, with a plethora of soullessly recreated Woo-isms. You want doves, cathedrals, and gunfights? They’re all here, but they’re done in the sort of superficial “style” that recalls drinking Purple Drink out of Tiffany crystal and calling it “classy.” Woo’s heyday is something to remember, but he clearly doesn’t have it anymore. This is barely serviceable.

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