The Villainess (2017)

The Villainess (2017)
Original Title: 악녀
Translation: Villain(ess)

 

Starring: Kim Ok-bin, Shin Ha-kyun, Sung Jun, Kim Seo-hyeong, Eun-ji Jo, Ye-Ji Min, Kwon Hyuk-bum, Jung In-Tae, Hae-Kyun Jung, Yun-Woo Kim, Seung-Joo Lee, Cheol-min Park, Min-Ji Son
Director: Jung Byung-gil
Action Director: n/a[1]

 

I’ve long kept myself aloof of the whole Korean cinema revolution that started with Shiri in 1999. I mean, sure, I made quick efforts to watch giant monsters movies like Yonggary and D-War, but that’s only because I’m a kaiju ohtaku. Beyond that, I have no real good reason to not make more than modest efforts to watch Korean movies, but I just haven’t. I suppose I’ve invested so much of my life in Japanese movies—mainly kaiju and tokusatsu stuff—and Hong Kong-Taiwanese-Chinese action-martial arts cinema that the idea of adding another country to the mix seems a little daunting. But even then, I’ve made efforts to stay afloat of Thai martial arts movies, so then, what’s the difference?

I think Koreans have carved out their own specific cinematic identity as their films have gained international renown. Thai action cinema, especially under the late Panna Rittikrai, was basically Jackie Chan 2.0, but with more flying elbow smashes. A Hong Kong cinephile—especially one who was reared on 80s action movies—can sit down for a Thai film in absolute comfort. Korean cinema seems to have its own artistic and storytelling sensibilities, even when it comes to action. There are not many pure martial arts movies coming out of Korea—there were a handful in 2000s, including a few wuxia movies choreographed by Hong Kong veterans—although they do have crime thrillers and the like that often get attention for a specific fight sequence amidst the more conventional action beats.

I feel like a journey into Korean cinema is something that cannot be done half assed. It strikes me as a film industry in which all of it has its cultural stamp on it in such a way that to appreciate most of it, you have to watch a lot of movies. I’m always weary of making a new cinematic journey, because of how much time and money has already gone into my more “conventional” martial arts (and HK bullet ballet) collection—not to mention whenever I go on buying sprees for movies that fit an idea for a book I have, only to be abandoned later on.

All this means is that I’ve seen precious few Korean movies outside of the late 70s/early 80s chopsockey films which are practically the same as their Hong Kong counterparts anyway. So, whatever my thoughts on The Villainess might be, you may take my opinions with a grain of salt.

We open in the best possible way a movie could open: a balls-to-wall, blood-as-hell action sequence filmed like a first-person shooter. Just imagine the infamous scene in Andrzej Bartkowiak’s Doom, but with no CGI monsters, only stuntmen getting blood splattered all over the walls. A woman enters an apartment building is quickly starts shooting, killing dozens of men who pour out of the rooms and try to stop her. The building is apparently the HQ of a drug gang, as she storms a lab and puts a bullet in all of the white-coated lab guys. She eventually gets her gun knocked out of her hand, so she switches to a pair of long knives and hacks, slices, chops and stabs the remaining goons before she storms the villain’s inner sanctum. After a blistering fight, the girl kills the drug lord via a reverse-hanging and is arrested by the police who have just arrived on the scene.

The girl is Sook-hee (Thirst’s Kim Ok-bin), the widow of a murdered crime boss who was trained by her husband/surrogate father (yeah, it’s really weird) to be a one-woman army. She is taken into custody by a shady government agency who trains young women to be sleeper assassins. Her boss, Kwon (Kim Seo-Hyeong, of The City of Violence), makes her an offer: if she works for the agency for 10 years, her and her child—Sook-hee is pregnant—may live a normal life. She makes friends, like Min-joo (Son Min-ji), and enemies, like the bitchy Kim Seon (The Concubine’s Jo Eun-ji). At length, her baby is born and she raises the child in the confines of the training center until it’s time for her first mission—which involves a sword fight on motorcycles in oncoming traffic. Having survived that, Sook-hee and her daughter move out of the complex and into an apartment to start her new life.

Sook-hee, under a new name, is employed as an actress at the local theater, occasionally being given missions to murder someone in the crime world. Unbeknownst to her, Sook-hee’s new neighbor, Hyun-soo (Korean TV actor Jung Sun), is an agent for the organization whose job is to babysit Sook-hee, even if it means dating her. There is an interesting scene early on in which all of the male agents in the surveillance room are discussing who wants to take on the job of supervising Sook-he. When Hyun-soo volunteers, his colleagues comment that in addition to a promotion, he may very well get some action in bed as a fringe benefit. Sook-hee and Hyun-soo eventually do become an item. Things take a turn for the dramatic when Sook-hee is ordered to carry out an assassination on her wedding day. While that in and of itself isn’t a problem, a glance at the target gives Sook-hee the jitters.

Most viewers will immediately identify The Villainess with movies like La Femme Nikita and its Hollywood counterpart, Point of No Return. The movie benefits from a strong performance of Kim Ok-bin as Sook-hee, who runs the whole gamut of emotions: vulnerability, anger, sadness, desperation, bloodthirstiness, idealism, puppy love, and even a smidgen of lust. Her team-up mission with Min-joo ends in an unexpected manner, which exposes both her vulnerable side and her horror at the sheer callousness of her employers. She juggles the emotions of bloodlust and sorrow quite handily during the climax, too. The other actors acquit themselves well, but this is mainly a tour-de-force for Kim Ok-bin.

Director Jung Byung-gil is best known for Confession of Murder, which takes its horror-suspense premise and turns it into an over-the-top action movie. Jung and the film’s martial arts team are at home when it comes to the action sequences. The non-action scenes are generally compelling, although at 123 minutes, the film runs a little long. The movie slows down at around the hour mark and doesn’t really pick up until the last twenty minutes. Jung uses flashbacks—often at inopportune moments—to tell Sook-hee’s backstory, including everything that led up to the opening set piece. I think that the movie could have been trimmed a bit to keep things a bit snappier without losing the depth of Sook-hee’s character.

The action scenes are definitely top tier stuff, although I recommend that you adjust your TV’s brightness and dim the lights in the living room before watching this. Several of the more important set pieces are set at night, so if you have a glare on the TV screen, you’ll miss a lot. The first-person perspective bloodbath is a bit chaotic at times, but always visible. The film cleverly switches out of first person when a henchman grabs Sook-hee and slams her head into a mirror, thus revealing who has been doing all this killing. The ensuing fight is a bit shaky, but it is also filmed with minimal cuts as the camera moves in and around the combatants. It is very dynamic.

The most conventional fight is a brief display of Sook-hee’s sword prowess during a training session against Kim Seon. The lighting is normal, the photography is pretty conventional, and while cut a bit more than I would like, it’s still a solid little duel. Sook-hee’s sword duel with what appears to be a Japanese gangster is similar, but with darker lighting. It’s the motorcycle sword duel with the gangster’s flunkies that really impresses, with Kim Ok-bin (or her stunt double) exchanging complex sword attacks while driving motorcycles through a tunnel. And then they ride into oncoming traffic and it becomes The Matrix Reloaded part 2, but more hair-raising.

The finale is broken into three parts. It starts off with gun fight in a kitchen that would make John Woo proud. Sook-hee and the main villain have a brief knife duel that wanders into Chocolate territory with the combatants falling out a building and standing atop air conditioners as Sook-hee knocks any new opponent to the ground below. And then things get really crazy, as the villains commandeer a bus and Sook-hee chases them, driving a car as she crouches on its hood, ready to jump onto the bus when she draws close enough. It ends with a bloody axe fight on a moving bus, which often results in Sook-hee’s head getting shoved outside, with oncoming traffic threatening to rip it off. The fight itself is a bit too Batman Begins for my taste, but the premise and the stuntwork—assuming that stuntmen are falling off the bus—are just great.

You could have probably cut about ten minutes out of the final film—a snip here and trim there—and it would have been better. There are some very well-photographed action sequences, so anyone with the minimal tolerance for chaotic (if still visible, most of the time) camerawork will definitely enjoy this film.

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[1] - The IMDB doesn’t credit an action director or fight choreographer. The Korean Movie Database does mention the martial arts team: Ryu Seongcheol, Kim Min-soo, Han Jeong-uk, Baek Dong-hyeon, Jang Han-seung, Gwon Ji-hun, Choe Bong-rok, Jeong Jin-geun, Yoon Dae-won, Song Won-jong, Jeong Dong-hyeok, Jang Han-byeol, Seon Ho-sam, Chae Seong-won, Kim Yeong-min, Lee Su-min, Lee Gwang-ki, Lee Hwak-gwang, Park Yong-gyun, Jee Sang-min, Kim Seon-ung, Cheon Jun-ho, Kim Seong-jong, Yu Mijin, Kim Seung-chan, Yoon Sung-min, Jo Kyeong-seob, Gim Yui, Choi Hyun-wu, Lee Yujin, Seo Yeongmin, Hong Juman, Kim Yonghak, Lee Seung Chang, Choi Jun Young, Lee Cheol Il, Choe Minhyeok, Lee Chan Hee, Kim Mi Jin, Kim Hyun Ei, Kim Jihye