The Killer

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2:01

The Killer

R

2024

2h 6m

Action

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

59%

Tomatometer

58 Reviews

48%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Legendary action director John Woo, the visionary filmmaker of Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II, Paycheck, Broken Arrow and Hard Boiled returns with a radical reimagining of his 1989 Hong Kong classic, The Killer. From the Oscar® winning producer of Oppenheimer, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy nominee Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fast Saga, Game of Thrones) as Zee, a mysterious and infamous assassin known, and feared, in the Parisian underworld as the Queen of the Dead. But when, during an assignment from her shadowy mentor and handler (Avatar's Sam Worthington), Zee refuses to kill a blinded young woman (Diana Silvers; Ma, Booksmart) in a Paris nightclub, the decision will disintegrate Zee's alliances, attract the attention of a savvy police investigator (Golden Globe nominee Omar Sy; Jurassic World franchise, Lupin), and plunge her into a sinister criminal conspiracy that will set her on a collision course with her own past.

Critics Consensus

John Woo recaptures some of his legendary action bravura in this gallic reimagining of his very own The Killer, although the kinetic set pieces don't quite compensate for the overall lack of personality.

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Jacob Oller

AV Club

10/25/2024

C-

Much like a schlock villain’s final stand, Woo’s loose remake of The Killer puts up more of a fight than you’d expect before inevitably falling to truisms. Just as crime doesn’t pay, you can’t shoot the same bullet twice.

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Tim Cogshell

FilmWeek (LAist)

09/16/2024

[Nathalie Emmanuel] has some chops. She has some chops and handles the weapons well.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

08/27/2024

2/4

Part of the problem here is that Emmanuel just isn’t an interesting enough performer to sell the strong, silent cipher that Zee needs to be.

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Maxance Vincent

Film Speak

Jul 14

A

It feels miraculous that Woo is still finding new and exciting ways to shoot and choreograph action at 77 years old and is always one step ahead of the filmmakers who his work has inspired.

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Steve Morrissey

Radio Times

02/13/2025

3/5

For all its wordiness, it does all seem worth it when Woo unleashes one of his classic, super-stylish action set pieces - mists roll, doves fly and operatic music swells on the soundtrack as characters go mano a mano in slo-mo, two-handed gun fu.

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Andy Klein

FilmWeek (LAist)

09/16/2024

It's good that it's not just a remake, but it loses a lot of the emotional weight of the original.

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Caroline B

@Caro35 May 9

Ok so some of the plot elements are far fetched, but I hardly chose this for its realism! This was a good watch, fun, sassy, kick ass action (slightly comic strip at times) with strong characters I cared about and could believe in. I really enjoyed what is a John Woo action film with heart.

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Martin E

@RT14368336 Apr 24

I so needed that. I've started watching so many films recently only to find them utterly disappointing. The Killer is fantastic - so refreshing to see a strong female lead, and brilliantly acted. I cannot understand some of the reviews here, but hey-ho. Far-fetched of course, but no more than a Bond film, and for me at least, I wanted to believe it because I found myself so invested in the characters. 5 stars all the way!

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Jeff B

@RT72741594 Apr 17

John , Boo. Suitable for Children.

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Shane T

@Shane476 Apr 16

Plot is so very weak. We are supposed to believe that top drug dealers/bad guys are going nuts and killing everyone over 100kg of heroin. Its probably worth about 2 million. The arrest and escape scenes aee stupid. The acting is so wooden and no idea why the need for a terrible irish accent that devolves to Scottish and at one stage Australian. The Cushla Machree text is a hate crime against Irish people

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Isaac R

@HOTsos Feb 26

Hard To Watch. It's as if AI watched a bunch of 80s action movies that were badly dubbed from a different language and attempted to replicate it. Cartoonish Action sequences - Dialogue written by an 8th grader - soap opera styles over acting - flatlined character development - confusing music choices. I had to watch some of it at 1.5 speed to get through it all. why do they insist on remaking shit versions of movies that were perfectly good to start with?

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Aureliana B

@AurelianaB Feb 1

What a disappointment! Yes, the technical elements are well made. Yes, the cast sounds impressive. But the dialogues...the incoherences in the plot...the 2-dimensional characters..is this a self-parody??

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John Woo

Director

Nathalie Emmanuel

Queen of the Dead

Omar Sy

Actor

Sam Worthington

Actor

Diana Silvers

Actor

Éric Cantona

Actor

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Synopsis

Legendary action director John Woo, the visionary filmmaker of Face/Off, Mission: Impossible II, Paycheck, Broken Arrow and Hard Boiled returns with a radical reimagining of his 1989 Hong Kong classic, The Killer. From the Oscar® winning producer of Oppenheimer, the kinetic action thriller stars Emmy nominee Nathalie Emmanuel (The Fast Saga, Game of Thrones) as Zee, a mysterious and infamous assassin known, and feared, in the Parisian underworld as the Queen of the Dead. But when, during an assignment from her shadowy mentor and handler (Avatar's Sam Worthington), Zee refuses to kill a blinded young woman (Diana Silvers; Ma, Booksmart) in a Paris nightclub, the decision will disintegrate Zee's alliances, attract the attention of a savvy police investigator (Golden Globe nominee Omar Sy; Jurassic World franchise, Lupin), and plunge her into a sinister criminal conspiracy that will set her on a collision course with her own past.

Director: John Woo
Producer: Charles Roven, Alex Gartner, John Woo, Lori Tilkin
Screenwriter: Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell, Matthew Stuecken
Distributor: Peacock
Production Co: A Better Tomorrow Films, Atlas Entertainment, Entertainment One, Taewon Entertainment
Rating: R
Genre: Action
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 23, 2024
Runtime: 2h 6m
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)