Review: ‘The Killer’ brings a Hong Kong action genius back to the site of his own crimes
After years in the wilderness, director John Woo has been back at target practice, and if his aim isn’t what it once was, it’s worth remembering that, onscreen at least, marksmanship was never the point. Rather, it was the pose, the look, the scowl, while running, leaping, somersaulting, sliding and staring. In Woo’s world, guns kill people, but gunplay slays audiences. Last year’s wordless “Silent Night” showed the Hong Kong legend trying to get loud again with American audiences, except it didn’t go off as planned. Now he’s gone back to one of his seminal showdown epics, 1989’s “The Killer,” with a Paris-set rewrite (co-scripted by “L.A. Confidential” Oscar winner Brian Helgeland), an international cast including French superstar Omar Sy, and a straight-to-streaming debut on Peacock. Home viewing won’t replace the experience of seeing Woo’s landmark action lollapaloozas in a theater. But if you watched the Paris Games this summer on Peacock, you could tell yourself this is one more make-or-break round — in shooting, what else? — for an esteemed cinematic Olympian. It’s a worthy silver. Sy isn’t the one in the Chow Yun-fat