The Villainess: La Femme Nikita meets Black Widow and Red Sparrow.
This is no new movie, in fact, it was released on 2017. It just took me a while to discover such a incredible film.
The movie follows the story of Seokhee, a highly skilled and lethal assassin who was trained from young age in the arts of killing. After her husband is violently murdered, she seeks for revenge taking down an entire crime cell. Impressed by her skills, the South Korea's Intelligence Agency recruits her to be a sleeper agent, promising to give her a new life after ten years of service. She dreams of a life without violence, however, the unexpected appearance of people from her past might turn these dreams into nightmares.
FEW! A little intense, don't you think? Well, let me inform you that the movie is TWICE as intense.
The start of the movie kicks out with ten minutes of what I'd like to call one of the best action sequences that I have ever seen not only in korean movies, but in general. This well-orchestrated fight scenes happen throughout the whole film and all of them succeed in terms of choreography, camera work, lightning, musicalization and, of course, direction. Mr. Jung Byung-gil, who also co-wrote the scrip alongside Jung Byeong-sik, did a great job.
Koreans loves to put a little romance into (almost) everything and this movie is not an exception to this "rule", nevertheless, the love scenes don't overtake on what has the viewers at the edge of their seats: the action. Love remains as the tool used for both the director and the writer to remember the audience that Seokhee is more than just a machine made for the killing, she is also a daughter, a mother and then, a wife. Loving made her human.
At first, when I saw that Kim Ok-bin was the main lead (they did a weird thing to her nose at the start, so it took me a Google search to find out), I told myself to lower my expectations since I have only watched her star in romance dramas. It always happens, there are actors and actress who simply don't do that well at some genres as they would do at others.
Mrs. Kim did a really good with her portrayal of a woman whose commitment to revenge completely changed her fate. Nothing on her acting seemed off. She even was in charge of carrying out most of her stunts! Those performers who take the risk of doing the action sequences on their own should be recognized for it. Kim Ok-bin scenes were no joke!
The movie also has Shin Hakyun, Sung Joon and Kim Seohyung to back up the main lead's journey. All of these are well known performers in the industry and their acting was up to their names. I am pretty sure that both Kim Seo-hyung and Shin Hak-yun have played similar roles before. They are just too good at playing antagonists! And about Sung Joon, well... it was a shame that his character was deemed to be the collateral damage from the very beginning. This was one of the weak points of the movie, I think. They let you know too early what he was going to be for the main lead.
Although it has some scenes that makes you think "NO WAY" because of the stunts that are just too unrealistic (I had a good laugh with these), it is something that somehow keeps you interested. You question yourself what kind of crazy sh*t is going to happen afterwards. Undoubtedly, the movie offers enough kinetic thrills to satisfy the genre's enthusiasts.
The Cannes Film Festival audience was, for sure, satisfied. The movie received a four minutes standing ovation after its screening on May 21, 2017.
Action movies can be good cinema too!
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