Director: Jung
Byung-gil
Notable Cast: Kim
Ok-bin, Shin Ha-kyun, Song Joon, Kim Seo-hyung, Jo Eun-ji, Lee Seung-joo, Son
Min-ji, Min Ye-ji, Kim Yeon-woo, Jung Hae-kyun, Kim Hye-na
The hype machine can be a film’s dream come true for the box
office numbers and sales, but it can certainly wreak havoc on someone’s
expectations going into the film too. This was one of the reasons that I
attempted to keep my hopes down for The
Villainess. The trailers sure did look slick and fun, but the tidal wave of
positive and gushing reviews almost seemed too good to be true for a film that
looked like John Wick collided with Hardcore Henry with Korean cinematic
flair of The Suspect. Yet, as the
credits rolled on The Villainess
there was an aura that the film wholly accomplished what it intended and did it
admirably well considering some of the potential pitfalls of its story and
stylistic choices. It’s not a film for
everyone. It’s not a film that intends to be an arthouse experience with action
like so many Korean films attempt (and/or accomplish) at being. It’s a film
that intends to be an action film of high caliber and one that writes a love
letter to the genre with all kinds of variety and style.