The Villainesskicks off with a six-minute symphony of pure action-film invention.
The camera moves through a corridor, a stairway, a window, a meth lab.
There are guns, knives, blood spraying every direction.
Credit: Cannes Film Festival
One of the bad dudes physically grabs the killer/you, bashing the camera against the wall-length mirror.
This is your first sight of Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin), the titular villainess.
Theres a shift away from first-person perspective after that.
(Thank goodness: The last thing this world needs is anotherHardcore Henry.)
But the setpieces inThe Villainessnever lose that initial vibrant you-are-there dexterity.
And there are some solid setpieces, involving great heights and moving vehicles.
(This is the kind of movie where every motorcycle has a sword-scabbard).
But theres a plot, too, loopy and soap operatic.
Our heroine gets an offer: Work for the shady agency for ten years, and earn her freedom.
One twist: Shes pregnant.
Theres a lot more.
The story hops around in time, showing Sook-hees tragic backstory and her curious romantic history.
The director has a real skill at conducting fight scenes toward a crescendo.
The material is pulpy and wild, a double-reverseNotorious, but it plays sappy and simplistic.
The characters come to life when they fight, and seem half-dead when they talk.
Or you remember the mawkish sincerity that powered John Woos earliest and best work.
Maybe Jungs still developing that part of his filmmaking muscle.
But there is a great performance inThe Villainess.
Kim Seo-hyeong plays the Chief, the woman in charge of the lady-assassin school.
Its a study in simmering responsibility.
Early on, we meet the Chief in a smoky room full of self-important men.
Sadly, theres no villainess inThe Villainess, but Kim Seo-hyeong makes a sharp, tough, ambiguous heroine.B
