John Wick has spoiled a generation of action fans. Look, better shoot ‘em ups are not being made; better lethal combat films are not being made; better action films are not being made. But that doesn’t mean other decent assassin pictures are not being made; it just means that whatever you discover will pass under the Wick threshold without trouble; it’s like setting a limbo stick at basketball hoop height when all you need to do is make the team.
Gil Bok-soon (Jeon Do-yeon) is a veteran assassin. I don’t know how you get to be a veteran assassin; I would think the profession is too dangerous, but there she is. And she’s also a single mother to a teenage nightmare. Gil Jae Yeong (Si-ah Kim) thinks her mom goes on important business trips to meet with colleagues and, truth be told, Boksoon does. Let’s just say the company picks up the tab on the expenses cuz the colleagues sure don’t.
Boksoon is no John Wick. We can tell this from her opening fight with a Yakuza chieftain. Hmmm, how shall I put this? While John Wick is Tom Brady, Boksoon is more of a Matthew Stafford. However, Boksoon brings one very important unseen skill to the table. She has scenario
anticipation down like it’s a sixth sense; it’s a little like watching Nicolas Cage in Knowing; Boksoon sees every fight seventeen moves ahead, so she knows instantly if she’s gonna lose. Ok, don’t make that choice. That’s a pretty useful skill to have for a combat assassin.
Don’t underestimate Boksoon, however. One delightful scene has her returning to assassin school. Oh yeah, there’s assassin school, assassin guild, and an assassin union in this film. Apparently all the hitters know one another and then hang out in bars afterwards … just don’t get too close to your drinking buddies, cuz you never know who is your next target. At assassin school, Boksoon takes out a star pupil while wielding a highlighter and nothing more … and she makes it look easy. Trust me, the kids love the show, but they’ll not want her Bok-so-soon.
Eventually a plot happens. And it’s a John Wick plot, leading to a John Wick solution. Nobody handles this stuff better than the John Wick crew, so it’s probably not worth the comparison, but Kill Boksoon doesn’t lack for merit in the action department. I’d say if you were Wick-deprived either by lack of immersion or waiting too long for the next, Kill Boksoon is a fine watch. OTOH, if you don’t like pointy things and blood, well, you probably ought to ship off and don’t come Boksoon.
A veteran hitter from Korea
Went “swish” and then “swash” and then “see ya”
Her aptly-named knife
Made you cling for life
While appreciating the onomatopoeia
Rated TV-MA, 137 Minutes
Director: Sung-hyun Byun
Writer: Sung-hyun Byun
Genre: The wake of Wick
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Fans of the “assassin with a heart of gold” trope
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: The John Wick spoiled
