‘The Killer” Review: Omar Sy Shines in John Woo’s Remake, But the Original’s Magic Fades
when it first arrived in the US in 1990, John Woo’s assassin film The Killer felt like a bullet (or a few thousand bullets) for the system with stylized action scenes such as flame ballet, romance and violent romance, which is terrible.And with Eclipse’s use of seemingly endless slow-moving, dispersing, and flying pigeons, the twist in Wu’s style would help transform the next decade — be it blockbuster or career by a big fan like Quentin Tarantino.
After that, the director’s career, in hyllwood and his native Hong Kong had its ups and downs (Hard Boiled, Face/Off) and its downs (Paycheck). But whoever is making feature films after him still owes him. His best films are apt poems of style over substance, transforming what was widely considered a grungy, forgettable B-level film into a story of high cinematic art, guns, and gore.
