User Reviews

It shows that this film was written and directed by novice Byung-gil Jung, and although most of the directing was decent (some was bad), he really failed in the writing department. There were too many convoluted flashbacks that were mainly out of place. The editing was also terrible, as this film needed to be mended much better. The fight scenes where choreographed really well, and the acting was on point, especially from the lead Ok-bin Kim. Had this film been screen-written properly and most of the flashbacks organized and edited correctly, and the 129 min length trimmed down to about 90 or 100 mins, this film would have been great. Still, an impressive production that deserves my 7/10

Was in my radar for a long time. Saw this recently. The plot may look n sound like La Femme Nikita n various films on female assassin turned rogue but check out the brutal action sequences. The film moves at a good pace, the screenplay is captivating with lots of twists n turns. Forget bah all those things. Such films r seen for the action sequences. The motorcycle ninja fight scene in this movie is again replicated in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum which is also a terrific action entertainer.

Sook-hee (OK-bin Kim) was just a little girl when the assassin training started in Yanbian, China. After the death of her mentor, she went to South Korea to work as a government agent. They promised her that she would be free after ten years of service, but the truth was not so easy.

Everything you need to know about "The Villainess" comes in the first ten or fifteen minutes. The opening scene is a first-person, frenetic fight scene that just never seems to end. Much like the hallways fight scenes on Netflix's "Daredevil", the punches and kicks are well-coordinated and just get more enjoyable as they go. And despite ultra-violence that goes well beyond Peckinpah, Tarantino, or maybe even Miike, in "The Villainess" it never seems gratuitous. There is an art to the whole thing, which may be less surprising once the viewer discovers the assassin's ballet background.

Some viewers may compare the lead character to the Bride from "Kill Bill", which is not altogether off-base. There is also something of a connection to "The Professional" and "La Femme Nikita" (coincidentally both from Luc Besson). But any comparisons will only go so far, because Sook-hee is a character all her own. While she is trained by her assassin school to be a world-class actress or gourmet chef, this only enhances her ability to get the job done when she needs to fight off several thugs on motorcycles while using a katana. Each fight scene manages to dwarf the previous, going so over-the-top you have to wonder how the stunt people and fight choreographer managed to work it all out.

While writer-director Byung-gil Jung is relatively new to film, genre fans will likely recognize his star, OK-bin Kim, from her role in "Thirst" (2009). If she was not already a big deal, this is the perfect showcase for a wide range of talents and on-screen emotions. To say that Sook-hee carries the film would be an understatement. Amazingly, cinematographer Jung-hun Park and editor Sun-mi Heo have practically no other credits to their names. With the impeccable lighting and clever editing to make long shots seem continuous, it boggles the mind how these folks could not have been in the business for years.

If any criticism of the film needed to be made, it would have to be in the lack of real depth. The characters are two-dimensional at best, and most of the plot twists are fairly obvious up front. While this sort of criticism would be correct, it would also be completely beside the point. "Villainess" is a fun movie, and a real popcorn-munching escape. This is not a cerebral tale with any satire or symbolism, but it never pretends to be.

The Fantasia Film Festival picked this visceral action flick to be their 2017 opening picture (July 13). This was a wise choice. Whether or not it will be considered among the best films at this year's festival remains to be seen, but it is easily one of the most satisfying. Nothing puts rabid genre fans in the mood for three weeks of insanity like a fast-paced ninja-themed bloodbath. Standing ovation? You bet! (For those not attending Fantasia, the US rights were purchased by WellGo earlier in 2017, so expect a limited theatrical run and a home video release in the not-too-distant future.)

'The Villainess (2017)' contains some of the craziest action-sequences in recent cinema, primarily because of the frenzied and ferocious nature of the camera itself. It is used as a tool to put you right in the centre of the violence, often literally putting you in the P.O.V. of our protagonist, and never strays further than a few feet away from any of the killing. As such, there is a claustrophobic and relentless feel to each and every such scene, which don't cut away until away until our lead has finished her dirty-work. Because of this, we don't get to rest until our hero does, instead being breathlessly whisked along from brutal but balletic beat to beat. All of the neck-slicing, blood-spilling, body-piling action feels guttural, given a visceral and grimy sense that only one person can survive. This runs counter to most high-concept pictures of the kind, where glossy, clean framing and shiny, pain-free choreography paint a picture of violence that doesn't really hurt and death that doesn't really matter. While death is depicted as similarly cold and callous here, each life that is taken feels painful and we're always on edge for the few people we care about. It's in both the tight and precise but scrappy and explicit fight-choreography, and subsequent blood-letting, and the down-and-dirty camera-work that the picture finds its footing as an 'in-the-trenches' and 'honest' depiction of despicable work, revenge in high-numbers shown from right up-close and watched with gritted teeth. The strongest of sequences are the opening first-person fight and a phenomenal sword-crossing motorbike chase. Both of these use impressive long-takes and hidden camera-cuts to appear as fluid as possible, with the former being an apparent 'one-shot' until its final moments. The use of small digital cameras allows the frame to go places it wouldn't normally be able, with the audience being transported into a one-on-god-knows-how-many battle or even through the wheels of a moving bike seamlessly, and it allows for a very intimate relationship with the lead and her struggle to survive. The only time a combat scene falls slightly short is in the feature's final movement, with some ever-so-slightly dodgy green-screen sky-replacement honestly looking pretty hokey and reducing the effect of the entire segment. Still, what was achieved on its relatively low budget is undeniably impressive and equally exciting. What isn't as exciting are its slower segments and convoluted, though completely understandable, plot. The contrast of its balls-to-the-wall action with its rather domestic, though still out-there and thematically appropriate, story is quite heavy and isn't always balanced too well. There are times where it feels as though the piece has switched gears entirely, with its initial intentions then coming crashing back down onto its new pace just as you're settling into it. This is conceptually appropriate but it does take you out of the film. As does the contrived plot-device used to inject tension and a proper antagonist in the latter half of the second act. This 'twist' feels as though it comes from nowhere, without the explanation afforded to other sequences of less importance, and is handled with confusion even within the narrative. Still, it doesn't ruin the plot and begins to inject some decent pacing back into the piece. It just feels like most of the picture is, or was trying to be, set-up for this moment but it happens too late for that to be the case, or for it to work successfully. On the whole, there isn't anything that isn't enjoyable about the picture. The eclectic, energetic and exciting action-sequences are a sight to behold and the flick plays with some intriguing themes, as well as having an appropriately 'strange', if slightly generic, story. It is always entertaining, even if it loses its drive and isn't quite as pacy as you'd expect. 6/10

This movie reminds me of Batman vs Superman, fantastic action sequence, good cinematography and great score but terrible script. The movie action sequence are like Kingsman except much more brutal. The cinematography was also beautiful. However the main characters were dumb and the villains were cartoonishly evil. You could see the plot twist and the characters motives as soon as you saw the character. If the movie had a simple plot like Raid or Die Hard, it may have been spectacular but instead it tries to be Shakespearean Hamlet saga and fails.

I'm feeling very underwhelmed by this film despite being a great fan of the best of Korean cinema. It's been well advertised of late, but don't fall for any possible hype on the movie posters. I don't even think the title makes sense for this movie.

The biggest problem is that this film is simply too close a homage to the classic French film Nikita, and it's not unfair to say a blatant steal. If you've never seen Nikita then you'll likely enjoy this, otherwise you'll be slumped in your chair for the duration. As there has already been a US remake and TV series based on Nikita, most will already know the premise, further denting its value.

Basically think of 4-5 core characters and themes in Nikita, and you'll find their mirror in this film. Run the two side by side and they are probably the same. Some of the scenes should had a copyright watermark from Luc Besson in the corner they were that alike.

The greatest selling point is the action, with a handful of exceptionally well choreographed and filmed scenes that will leave you applauding, especially the opening run in. Hollywood should take a look in. I haven't been excited and amazed watching action scenes for a long while.

Beyond that, there's little to write home about. Story is a copy, the acting is rarely challenging (although our lead is very good) and the dialogue is so so. Shame really.

The twists and turns are unexciting, and are quite frankly poor and unchallenging. There's little good to say there.

Saying all that, our lead has a young child who steals the scenes whenever she's there, so that's a small saving grace and release valve from all the rest.

Disappointing, but still very watchable for the action scenes if little else. If you do want to watch a great alternative Korean film this year, then I would very much recommend The Handmaiden, watch that instead of this.

Ak-Nyeo/The Villainess (2017):

Action Lovers definitely never misses the chance of watching any action film from South Korea.Korean Action films have huge fan following for its ultra-stylish violent sequences like The Man from Nowhere,The Chaser,Old Boy and lot others.The Villainess is one such film of 2017 where action lovers will have a treat.

Plot:

Sook-hee (Ok-bin Kim) is a trained assassin who was born to kill. She was just a little girl when the training started in Yanbian, China. After the death of her mentor, when the chance of starting a new life was given to her, she came to South Korea as a government agent. They promised her that she will be free after ten years of service. So she begins her new life as a theatre actress. But soon two men Joong-sang (Ha-kyun Shin) and Hyun-soo (Jun Sung) appear in her new life. And she started to find deep dark secrets about her past. Eventually she take matters into her own hands.

My Review:

The Villainess makes no delay and right from scene 1,it shows abundant violence which shot in POV format.the sequence tracks a lone fighter through a building full of thugs, all of whom get dispatched with bloody efficiency. Finally, the unseen figure enters a martial-arts studio with a dozen or so adversaries and a mirrored wall. Only when the camera catches the intruder's reflection does the point-of-view switch from hers to ours. For starters,this scene may make them confused with its camera angles but it really deserves applause.

After that hell of a scene,The Villainess goes in a non-linear way to reveal the past and present of Sook-hee's life and it may confuse to an extent but later it gets Ok.The major reason for the confusion is that Sook-hee's look is changed from past and present.But once the screenplay gets to the point,we can clearly see that The Villainess is same ages-old cliched revenge plot with predictable twist.

The Villainess have inventively staged action sequences, including a sword fight between speeding motorcyclists, a knife battle inside a geisha house, and another protracted single take that tracks Sook-hee as she climbs onto the hood of a moving car, leaps onto a speeding bus and crashes through one of its windows, and slaughters some henchmen with an ax before the vehicle careens into oncoming traffic.

Cinematography is so tricky but amazing at its best.Background score is an asset.Performances are amazing and especially Ok-Bin is show-stealer with her terrific performance.

SO,The Villainess is a decent action film with an engaging screenplay and amazing action scenes.A Must Watch for Action film lovers.

My rating 7/10

There's a lot of similarities that can be drawn with this movie and others. There is "Hardcore Henry" which was an experimental 1st Person action movie, and definitely "Le Femme Nikita". The version I saw had terrible amateur subtitles and seemed to run 5 min short of the official release running time. Still, the movie kept my attention through out, which is more than I can say for a lot of the movies I have seen lately. There is some excellent cinematography in regards to the action sequences and they come across fluid and realistic. There is a lot of fairly graphic violence to go along with it, which I kind of liked as anything with a budget from the USA these days seems to be tame on the gore front. Its a shame it seems to be getting such a limited release given the just over 500 + ratings its had on IMDb 3 full months on from its release. Hopefully this movie will find its audience in the future.

There's no denying The Villainess has some amazingly inventive and filmed action scenes liberally sprinkling its lengthy running time. Whether they are enough to justify the film's reputed 4 minute standing ovation when presented at the Cannes Film Festival, I'm not sure. The Point Break remake had some exciting action scenes and stunts too and yet they're aren't too many disputing the contention, that it was very much a dud of a film.

Speaking of remakes I'm kind of amazed there doesn't seem to be any formal acknowledgement or credit that The Villainess, like John Badham's 1993 The Assassin (also known as Point of No Return), is a remake of Luc Besson's 1990 film La Femme Nikita. There's simply no repudiating it. Badham's movie gave credit to Besson's and said it was a remake. But strangely writer/director of The Villainess, Jung Byung-gil said he was inspired by La Femme Nikita, whilst giving no onscreen credit (that I could see). In my little corner of the world that's what we generally call "ripping people off".

Any way if you know the plots to the previous films, you'll know the basic storyline of The Villainess. Namely, that a young woman is taken and trained by a shadowy facility associated with South Korea's intelligence agency, into being a sanctioned assassin. The differentiating feature with The Villainess, is the almost infuriatingly complicated back story we are given about Sook-hee, the woman concerned. It is made unnecessarily complex in the long first act, by excessive flash-backing, where we are even given flashbacks, within flashbacks. At times things become nearly incoherent. I actually breathed a sigh of relief during the second act, when Sook-hee goes outside the training school on her first mission and the narrative becomes for a time, more traditionally linear in style, with far less flash backs. Complicating matters further is that the 20 year old Sook-hee we see onscreen almost appears more dangerous than the older trained up Sook-hee we see later. In the somewhat absurd, but dazzlingly choreographed opening , she eliminates a whole rival gang on different storeys of a building, a la The Raid. Yet later, both her and an associate female assassin have trouble with a couple of dudes they're supposed to terminate. There are head-scratching inconsistencies like this right through The Villainess.

Kim Ok-vin in the lead role as Sook-hee is very good, as is her onscreen daughter, Eun-hye, played by Kim Yeon-woo, who is very appealing, as a cute 3-year old. Kim Seo-hyung as Kwon-sook, the head of the training school, also succeeds in a finely tuned ambiguous role, whereby we are never sure of where her loyalties ultimately lie.

The conclusion which follows another hideously kinetic, wholesale gang slaughter and freeway bike and bus chase, very reminiscent of that seen in The Matrix Reloaded, is both thrilling, yet still somewhat confusing, whilst leaving the door ajar for a possible sequel no doubt. To be honest I don't think I'd be interested in it, unless I could be guaranteed that Jung Byung-gil had improved upon his story-telling abilities.

"The Villainess" is a movie with a bravura opening and ending sequence, and a middle which reveals its filmmaker has no idea how to do anything other than bravura sequences. The whole movie couldn't have been like that, apparently - especially not at the idiotic two-hour plus length that it goes on for.

The movie has flashbacks that really add nothing, plastic surgery makeovers that also add nothing except confusion, and a bad guy who changes for no reason I could discern.

It also doesn't evince any sympathy for its protagonist. You want to see her kick butt, sure - but she only does that at the beginning and end of the movie, really. Other than that, you don't care, and I was never really sure who the main bad guy was.

This is a movie that was basically made to be cut up into clips and watched on Youtube, saving everyone's time. Don't bother trying to sit through the whole thing.

You can't say these out there Asian action flicks, are boring, cause they're not. They're the last thing from it. Starting with the bloodiest opening to end all bloody openings, we're virtually bombarded with carnage, where one woman taking out a sea of bad arses (swordsmen) in a hallway, slicing and dicing her way through em' with dizzying camera angles. We get to the next room, it starts up again (that first bare, slightly chubby chested guy, I can't get out of my mind) where the kill count increases. We've seen so much, bloodshed, already, this makes Kill Bill look small time, filling more buckets of hemoglobin, it would make even Tarantino, a jealous party. From this, a beautiful if relieved transition ensues, as we realize there's a real exciting story at play here, where a lot of it, borrows for Le Femme Nikita, or The Assassin, that 93 Bridget Fonda pic. Unfortunately it's a too muddled tale, or very messily organized back and fro structure, of a young gifted sword fighter and assassin used by an obviously corrupt organization to do their dirty work. Her problems are only extenuated with the arrival of a child which threatens her future and goodwill for both. Storywise, I thought the story would of lived up to the title, where the woman was a real evil character, but she isn't an evil person, where the title was kind of misleading. We are taken back to earlier times, where sporting the short hairdo, we see that may'be she was, or as she says, to a much hated figure, later, "You made me like this". by them (her masters). There was just such a messy approach to the back and fro structure, it was bloody annoying, where even Einstein would have trouble piecing it one hundred percent together, one head wracking experience for a layman. It's a pity as The Villainess, really could of been something, and speaking of The Assassin, earlier, one bathroom scene here, is horribly familiar, where I bet your bottom dollar, the writer here, saw that movie. But push that aside, The Villainess is still an excitingly explosive action pic, and surefire entertaining night at the movies. The film has some good acting, and the action scenes, especially the motorbike chase scene, are spectacularly staged, and I don't want to know how they went about that one. It just really suffers on the account of it's uneven and muddled telling and approach to story.

I had a very hard time finding who is who in the first act. The opening FPS scene would seem impressive to someone, but to me, it was the besy (worst?) example of goons lining up in a melee battle. You could see the guys in the background, not knowing what to do while waiting to be slaughtered.

The story is a mess. Too simple and too convoluted at the same time.

Acting is ok. Editing is awful. And the movie is at least 30mn too long.

Watch Nikita instead.

This is just another killer woman with great martial arts skills who beats up and kills bad guys. The flashbacks are confusing as hell and at a running time of over two hours it becomes tedious and exhausting. The fight sequences are o.k. but in the end I was just tired of the whole thing. The lead actress is charasmatic and attractive, but do not waste your time on this mess.

In Seoul, South Korea, the young woman Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin) breaks in a fortress of a dangerous gang alone and kills all the gangsters. She is arrested by the police and sent to a secret facility of an organization that trains assassins commanded by Chief Kwon (Seo-hyeong Kim). Sook-hee is pregnant and has a daughter that is raised in the facility. She is trained as a stage actress and assassin, and Chief Kwon promises her that she will be free with a good allowance after ten-year service. Meanwhile, the agent Hyun-soo (Jun Sung), who is in charge to observe her, has a crush on her. In flashbacks, Sook-hee recalls her previous life, when her father and her mentor and husband Joong-sang (Shin Ha-kyun) were murdered. When Sook-hee is released to start her new life, she learns dark secrets from her past.

"Aknyeo", a.k.a. "The Villainess", is a full of action South Korean movie with great scenes. Unfortunately the no chronological screenplay is confused and the film starts like a videogame with no explanations or development of characters. On fragments like in "Memento", the viewer is introduced into the past of the lead character Sook-hee. In addition the conclusion is not good. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Vilã" ("The Villainess")

Some great action scenes, in fact the opening scene filmed in the first person is seriously cool!

But...

The plot is ridiculously complex and ridiculous. Certainly impossible to make any sense of. Good guys, bad guys, who the hell knows. Just kill them as violently and as efficiently a you can. 🤣😂🤣😂

Fantastic action movie that spills blood everywhere

This film exceeded my expectations. The cinematography in a couple of the scenes is truly incredible, particularly the fight scenes that are one continuous shot. The fight choreography is top notch and neither overly stylized nor formulaic; most had me on the edge of my seat. The lead is an incredible actor, whose performance conveys all the depth the character needs to ground the film.

There has been a lot of very positive things said and written about The Villainess; from a standing ovation at Cannes (for all that that means), to the critics, even through to the commenters here on IMDb. Despite that I came to the film open to whatever it did, although of course I came to it because I had heard many positive things about it. Having seen the film myself, I am left rather bemused about the near universal positive commentary for The Villainess, because it didn't really stand out to me as being anything particularly special, even though it does have elements (or sequences) which are memorable.

As a whole, the film felt like a collection of bits from other films or works, pulled together to try to freshen up a plot which doesn't really flow, and characters that are never fleshed out to the point that we really care about them or invest in who they are. The action is where the focus is, although I was surprised how long periods of the film didn't have any. The action is worth a look, with the opening pov sequence, and the final sequences, being bloody, energetic, and enjoyable – however they also represent the constant problem of the film – which is that it all feels very familiar, but not as good as what it reminds you of.

For example, the pov stuff is directly from Ilya Naishuller's music videos (and then the feature Hardcore Henry), but it is not as slickly or smoothly delivered as those videos (not seen the feature). Within that, and particularly evident in the final road- based sequence, is the influence of The Raid and The Raid 2; in those films the camera is thrown around within the action, as well as making seemingly impossible transitions within the scene (specifically the chase sequence here and in Raid 2). It is good here, but never as good as in Evans' two films – while also being totally 'influenced' by them to the point of being constantly in their shadow (in my opinion). The plot also heavily smacks of Nikita, but maybe would have done better to stick closer to it since here the plot is messy and too jumbled to flow. I liked the fragmented structure of it as an idea, and it works pretty well as a device – but it is the content and delivery that limits it. The cast didn't seem able to lift the material, and although good in the action, they didn't find their characters outside of the moment.

The Villainess has enough about it in the start and end to be worth a look. It runs longer than it can bare though, and the plot doesn't work well enough to engage through some of the periods of no action. It is very much in the shadow of its many influences though, and while I enjoyed some aspects, mostly it felt too familiar and knocked-off.

28th STOCKHOLM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. DAY 1, NOV 8th 2017. Swedish premiere.

The opening scenes boasts some of the most amazing fighting sequences I've ever seen -- and it's a woman crushing hordes of male gangsters.

‪"The Villainess" (2017) is the third feature film by South Korean writer-director Jung Byung-gil, who made his international breakthrough with "Confession of Murder" (2012). It stars Kim OK-bin as a revenging hitwoman who is forced into cooperation with the police. Kick-ass deluxe.‬

Korean cinema has been the most cutting edge and exciting exponent of action thrillers tinged with horror for the past 15 years or so, and I'm a big fan. You have to look far and wide for a very long time to find movies as deliriously twisted yet compelling as 'I Saw The Devil', 'Oldboy' or 'The Chaser'.

So I was very disappointed to find a film that sounds as good on paper as 'The Villainess' turn out to be such a hectic, empty mess. The script is just plain awful, with every single character behaving in ways that make no sense and changing wildly in nature and motivation from one scene to the next. Characters appear, fall in love, get married and burst into flames in what seems like seconds, so there's barely enough time to remember if the person on the screen dying is the same person that had a line a few scenes back, let alone be deeply moved, which would seem to be the intended goal.

The 'villainess' herself is just a bland, confusing and completely unbelievable maelstrom of stony-faced killer and fragile weeping rose, and the fact that she is played by two different actresses makes the whole thing even more bewildering and hard to keep track of than it would have been anyway. No explanation is given for the title of the movie, or, for that matter, anything she does.

I will grant you the 'Hardcore Henry'-like opening scene is *technically* impressive, but as meaningful and involving as looking up from your phone to watch someone else play a first person shooter video game for a few minutes. There's no context to the violence, or real-world believability, so it's basically just a bunch of paper targets shaped like people falling over. There are a couple of other action set pieces that are advanced enough to make you wonder how they were done, but not enough to make you care why anyone was doing it, or what the outcome would end up being.

By the end I was simply laughing at the deaths of characters I was apparently supposed to be heartbroken over, simply because so little effort had been put into making one care for them.

I don't know who the hell signed off on this, who let a script so bloated with flaws through the net, but it really worries me to think they thought the bar in cinema was so low right now that no-one would notice. Anyway, 'The Villainess' is the most boring film I've sat through in years.

The concept was intriguing and heard nothing but great things when it came out in my country a few weeks ago. It took a bit of time for me to see 'The Villainess' (being someone who wants to see as many films of the year as possible being a film buff regardless of age and genre), due to commitments and being behind on my film watching and it was well worth the wait.

In a very mixed bag year for films (which had the likes of 'The Farthest', 'God's Own Country', 'IT', 'Wind River', 'The LEGO Batman Movie', 'Spiderman: Homecoming', 'Una', 'A Ghost Story', 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2' and 'Dunkirk' for examples in the good and more categories, and then 'The Emoji Movie', 'Fifty Shades Darker', 'All Eyez on Me', 'Stratton', 'The Mummy', 'Flatliners', 'Transformers: The Last Knight', 'Eat the Locals' and 'The Circle' in the disappointing or less categories'), 'The Villainess' generally is one of the better films to be released in recent weeks and in the better half of the films released in 2017. 'The Villainess' to me was a very good film with many truly great elements.

By all means, 'The Villainess' is not perfect. There are a few too many twists, flashbacks and reveals in the latter parts of the film, a couple being a bit too obvious, and the somewhat piled on nature makes the middle act feel at times cramped and convoluted. Some of the characters could have had more depth too. On the whole though, 'The Villainess' has a lot of style and atmosphere but also has substance and soul.

Visually, 'The Villainess' is hugely impressive. The editing is especially exceptional and the cinematography is very clever and audacious, even acrobatic, both shining in particularly the motorbikes action sequence. The music score is haunting and heart-pounding without intruding. 'The Villainess' is directed with a keen eye for visual detail and with a knack for providing plenty of thrills and tension while keeping control of the story.

Furthermore, 'The Villainess' is written tautly and, even though it's not executed perfectly, the story has tension and suspense galore, always absorbs and intrigues and with a romantic subplot has room even for emotional resonance. The highlight is one of the most uncompromisingly violent, thrilling and powerfully startling opening sequences of any film from 2017 and perhaps in film generally. The ending similarly packs a punch.

Action sequences are similarly imaginative and exceptionally well choreographed to adrenaline rush effect, the motorbikes/sword-fight sequence is one of the most electrifying action sequences of the year. The lead character is fascinating and more complex than one would think, her back story integrated skilfully and making her more a character to root for rather than hate. The acting is very strong, with Kim OK-vin a revelation.

Overall, very good. 8/10 Bethany Cox

I'm very conflicted about this film, some things I LOVE, other aspects not so much. (No spoilers)

The plot is as generic as you can get, we've seen it a million times and I actively was calling plot points out well in advance.

The film is too long! I was checking my watch throughout the last 45 minutes, the filmmakers could've trimmed 20 mins off.

Some acting is a bit stilted, and at one point the sound design was VERY off putting (the opening scene used the same gunshot/cartridge ejection noise over and over at least 15 times). And The CGI blood looks awful at times.

And the editing of the action scenes can contain too many cuts at some point (not nearly as bad as Taken 2 & 3, but not as good as The Raid 1 & 2. Kind like the Borne fims 1-3 and Legacy).

However,

Dispite all this the movie is proped up by some very interesting direction. Dispite the edits, the action scenes are shot very well and are at times Amazing.

The acting from the main characters is very good especially the lead actress, who is f**king GREAT in this. Her and the love interest have some great chemistry. The B-plot about their romance was lovely and I totally bought it.

The cinematography is gorgous and when practical blood is used it (mostly) looks excellent. The fight choreography was wonderful!

I would recommend seeing this film. A lot of work was put into it and while it's not great, it's good and the main star is such a BadA*s

From the opening first-person fight itself, action lovers will know they are in for a treat and then the climax action sequence got to be one of the most insane yet totally believable action scenes I have seen. The problem is they have taken a generally simple story and turned it into something complex that drags the film at times and is a bit too much for logic. With many scenes reminding of films like Kill Bill to Oldboy, The Villainess is a solid female-oriented action film.