The Rotten Tomatoes score forThe Killerhas been released. Not to be confused with the 2023 David Fincher film of the same name, 2024’sThe Killeris a 2024 action movie about an assassin who is trying to restore the sight of a young, blinded singer.The Killerisdirected by John Woo, who is adapting his own 1989 film. 2024’sThe Killerfeatures a leading cast including Nathalie Emmanuel, Omar Sy, Sam Worthington, and Diana Silvers.
Now, theRotten Tomatoesscore has been revealed forThe Killer. At the time of writing,The Killerhas a"rotten" score of 58%based on 40 critics' reviews so far. The audience Popcornmeter is slightly lower, with a 53% approval rating among over 100 reviews. Both of these scores are subject to change, as the film was released on streaming on August 23.
How John Woo’s Remake Compares With The Original
2024’s The Killer Has A Lower Rating
So far, the main complaint that arose fromThe Killer’s reviewsis thatit does very little better than the 1980s original.The Daily Beast’s Nick Schager articulated this well, noting that the film “fails to improve upon a single aspect of its trailblazing predecessor.“Slant Magazine’s Jake Cole said that “the remake is absent the far richer character development than made the original as much as melodrama as a shoot ‘em up.” Others were more positive about the film, complimenting its editing and action choreography.
In addition to being an English-language adaptation with an altered setting,The Killerchanges the lead character from a man (Jeffrey) to a woman named Zee.
Those critics who said thatThe Killerdid not improve on the original version were in line with the general consensus.The 1989 Hong Kong-made version of the film holds a Certified Fresh 95%on Rotten Tomatoes, with an equally impressive Popcornmeter of 92%. The film helped put Woo on the map, establishing him as a standout auteur within the action genre. As critics of the 2024 version ofThe Killerpoint out, the originalThe Killerlaid the groundwork to inspire many action films that came after it.
To Woo’s credit, the2024 version ofThe Killeris not a shot-for-shot adaptation. In addition to being an English-language adaptation with an altered setting,The Killerchanges the lead character from a man (Jeffrey) to a woman named Zee. Played by Emmanuel, Zee takes center stage, an impressive and skilled female assassin. This is a radical shift forThe Killer, whose original was released in a time wherein men were typically the action lead. Unfortunately, it seems as though Woo’s attempt to change these elements was not entirely successful for the remake.
The Killer
Cast
In Woo’s reinvention of his own classic, Zee, aka the Queen of the Dead, is a contract killer who finds herself hunted by her former colleagues and the police after she fails to carry out the murder of a young woman.
