The Killer

I don’t think there’s a single element of The Killer that feels particularly fresh; it’s fun, though. About an ultra-skilled hitman with a heart of gold who finds himself John Wicking his way through the Korean underworld when a teen girl he’s babysitting is kidnapped, the film always feels pretty familiar. Still, it’s entertaining enough, with its svelte 94 minute running time featuring the bare minimum of plot and character development needed to launch the viewer into a whole bunch of solid action set-pieces. Choi Jae-hun’s action direction is sometimes a bit too slick for its own good, but mostly, the movie’s now-familiar post-Wick combo of stylized gunplay and martial arts choreography is quite well done. Nothing about it stands out as particularly mind-blowing, but watching a cool-as-a-cucumber Jang Hyuk shoot and stab his way through dozens of goons like a hot knife through butter is thoroughly satisfying.

*** out of ****