Christian imagery, from crucifixes to doves fluttering their wings in slow-motion, have long since become a hallmark of Woo's films regardless of their meaning, but these symbols immediately steep The Killer in a distinctly spiritual sense of remorse

| Aug 27, 2024

Fun from start to finish.

| Aug 4, 2023

While there is no doubting the technical sophistication of Woo's hyper-kinetic massacres... the most notable aspect of [the film] is the award mix of tongue-in-cheek kitsch and lumbering, macho, male-bonding earnestness in between.

| Jul 27, 2023

Over-the-top movies like these bleed as much implausibility as bodily fluid, but that's not why you watch "The Killer."

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 12, 2022

Here, it always takes a dozen shots at point-blank range to fell an antagonist, which is remarkably amusing.

| Original Score: 8/10 | Jan 2, 2022

A pointless exercise in style.

| Sep 8, 2017

One of the best action films ever made.

| Sep 8, 2017

The work of a filmmaker operating at the highest level of his abilities.

| Sep 8, 2017

Like any true artist, Woo didn't satisfy himself with merely copying his heroes: he transcended them with his own ideas and innovations.

| Apr 16, 2015

For all the bullets that are spent, The Killer spends just as much time ruminating on the likes of honor, friendship and even the allure of guns themselves

| Original Score: 3.5/4 | Jun 30, 2014

One of the few films to hold a legitimate claim to the title of Greatest Action Movie of All Time.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Feb 3, 2011

The gotterdamerung of the Hong Kong heroic bloodshed cycle.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jan 27, 2011

Melodramatic from the start, it finally goes over the top to deliver a solid emotional punch.

| Jul 6, 2010

For as over the top as [Woo's] shootouts tend to be, the ones in The Killer are some of his most excessive.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Apr 7, 2010

Another of [Director] Woo's early masterpieces with Chow Yun Fat at the top of his game...

| Apr 29, 2009

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4 | Nov 28, 2008

It's as much a doomed romance as a shoot-'em-up.

| Original Score: 5/5 | Mar 1, 2007

A lot of claims have been made for this campy bloodbath concerto by Hong Kong director John Woo, and I must admit that he's even better than Brian De Palma at delivering emotional and visceral excess with staccato relentlessness.

| Mar 1, 2007

Woo has cited Sam Peckinpah and Martin Scorsese as two of his influences, but he has established a touch all his own.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Oct 23, 2006

The director repeatedly places the viewer at the center of the crossfire and turns the gyrating camera into the next best thing to a lethal weapon.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Feb 11, 2006