"The Villainess" *** (out of ****)
It begins with one of the most remarkable, bloody and violent first person POV sequences in recent memory. Men are seen running towards the camera being shot and in some cases cut with an ax. Blood squirts out and the walls of the hallway are red with their blood. "Our" hands reload a gun, in a way resembling a video game, as the camera fights to keep all the action in frame.
The movie, "The Villainess" (2017), was directed by Jung Byung-gil and come to us from South Korea. It is one more example of the "lady seeks revenge" genre a la "Kill Bill" (2003), "Lady Snowblood" (1973) and "The Bride Wore Black" (1968).
It also follows in the tradition of most South Korean movies in the amount of extreme violence shown on-screen. American audiences that have seen "Oldboy" (2003), one of the country's most famous imports, will be better prepared.
"The Villainess" refers to the lead female character, an assassin, Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin). Her husband, Lee Jong-sang (Shin Ha-kyun), was murdered on the night of their wedding. The two had met after Sook-hee witnessed her father being killed when she was a child and vowed revenge. Jong-sang helped train her to reach that goal. With the two men she loved gone from her life, Sook-hee will avenge their death.
Premiering at the Cannes film festival earlier this year, "The Villainess" has a labyrinth plot structure switching between present day and flashbacks. In some situations the movie jumps ahead several years without warning. If this structure was meant to create a level of intrigue and suspense by withholding information to heighten our involvement, sometimes it creates confusion. Where exactly are we in the story?
To minimize the amount of blood shed, the movie's screenwriters developed a love story between Sook-hee and her neighbor, an undercover government agent, Jung Hyun-soo (Sung Joon). These scenes achieve an objective to humanize Sook-hee and create a more fully dimensional character, one which the audience may have an invested emotional interest in. To a small degree it works and gives the movie an opportunity to get some easy laughs.
As an actress however Kim Ok-bin seems better suited for the action sequence, emulating a sexy tough girl persona and is never really able to sell the emotional, dramatic moments to the degree originally intended. It isn't all the fault of acting, as some blame should be placed on the screenwriting as well. Still, for all the "heroics" of the character what we are left with is a rather cliche theme; a woman is always the victim of a man's cruelty.
But what does the audience walking into "The Villainess" expect? Does it delivery based on their expectations? At the end of the day the best moments in the movie are going to be the high octane action sequences. This is what is expected of the movie.
Some will argue about the amount of violence on-screen. Was it all necessary? This will be an ongoing debate between filmmakers and society. Do movies glorify violence?
"The Villainess" has good action sequences, good visuals and an engaging actress. Despite its violence and at times uneven script "The Villainess" is still a bloody good time and a wild ride.
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