All the stars for the action sequences and every artist's energy, vision, hard work for this movie.

i did not like that they killed a baby but i did like the action in it and the cliffhanger ending sucked

Absolute bloody blast! You get so drawn in that it doesn't even feel like 2 hours. It's almost as if John Wick had 5 puppies killed and his wife died in front of him 10 times. Revenge on top of revenge!

Cool opening sequence. The hallway fight for Old Boy would not have been that good, if we're done like this.

Camera angles are crazy!!!!! Great action film

The Villainess offers up a ultra violent bloody good time from start to finish along with a compelling story and brilliant acting. Unfortunately the director's overuse of shaky cam ultimately harms a few of the action scenes, thankfully many scenes are shaky cam free and that is where the film shines. Overall The Villainess is a bloody fun 2 hours.

The Villainess offers up a ultra violent bloody good time from start to finish along with a compelling story and brilliant acting. Unfortunately the director's overuse of shaky cam ultimately harms a few of the action scenes, thankfully many scenes are shaky cam free and that is where the film shines. Overall The Villainess is a bloody fun 2 hours.

South Korea is the home of some of the best action films in the world. This movie is an exciting spy and revenge thriller with a complex plot and a tremendous amount of action. A young woman is recruited by a high tech spy and assassination agency after she is arrested for slaying her husband's killer. After assuming a new identity and being sent out of training to perform an assignment things get complex and her past and present collide. Violent. Visually interesting. Great characters. I did not like the video game approach to the early fight scenes but they were interesting. This is subtitled.

Narrative flow? What's that? This movie sure doesn't know. I might have thought better of this movie if it hadn't taken me at least half an hour to figure out what was even going on. Then you realize it's following the same story beats as La Femme Nikita. Yeah, it's another La Femme Nikita knockoff, and very poorly done. There is no way to tell flashback from current timeline (this aspect is just inexcusibly incompetent). The training is like surreal comedy. And people praising the action; are you really gonna tell me that that opening fight where everyone was taking turns really slowly attacking her and just letting her take her time killing each of her victims wasn't absolute garbage? No, this movie's a mess. There are some good fights, but very few, and far too short. You can't follow the narrative. It's completely incoherent. There are several different actresses playing the main character between plastic surgury and age. Flashbacks come without warning and without any indicators that they are flashbacks. One instance, she's on a mission and I thought it was flashback because it's so random and transitions are so bad. Plus the scene didn't make sense in any narrative context. OH! It's an assassination job! How would I know? The movie didn't even bother differentiating between it and the flashback that came before it! The movie relies on flashbacks, and the narrative structure is just a lost cause. It has merits but very few. You're just going to be mostly confused.

bwahahahahahahaha, gore and action fest. It's very hard to detangle the plot lines but in an enjoyable way for me.

The action scenes are exhilarating, the plot on the other hand is somewhat convoluted. There are K-drama styled aspects that somehow do and don't mesh well with the rest of the film. I liked them, but they moved too fast. Ultimately, what makes it worth watching is the insanely creative action sequences that are riveting from the beginning.

Sook-hee is trained as a deadly assassin from a young age, taken in by a man who rescues her from sinister types who have kept her held hostage since they killed her father. As an adult she follows a lead to the hideout of a gang linked to the man who killed her father and takes them all out in spectacular fashion. Soon after she is arrested by the National Intelligence Service who recruit her as an agent and employ her particular skill set to take out anyone who opposes the peace and security of the nation. Initially reluctant she tries to escape only to realise she must stay in order to escape and move on with her life until that is a mission is sent her way which changes everything. The Villianess opens with one of the most spectacular action scenes ever to open an action movie as we follow the lead character of the film from a first person perspective as she takes out an entire building of bad guys by herself. Similarly the ending of the film is just as spectacular with fast paced car and motorbike chases and brutal fight scenes taking place on numerous moving vehicles. Where the film suffers slightly is in the middle. There is a slow plodding love story and the film jumps around along the time line a bit too frequently making some scenes a bit confusing. Despite this, it's still enjoyable and worthy entry into the Korean action cinema catalogue.

In terms of action The Villainess finds itself right up there with films such as John Wick, but it lacks the superb pacing or tight narrative of the aforementioned movie. Villainess struggles with its story, as viewers may have a hard time of keeping track of varying timelines, which is further disorienting when they switch amidst chaotic, simultaneous camera shakes.

After a fantastic opening fight sequence, the film grinds to a halt. The story is far too slow and sentimental in the middle third that when the occasional action scene does appear, it shows what could and should have been. It's Nikita, but with a family diverting the story line to dullness. A sequel could be interesting though.

Loved this movie. Great plot, great action, with a very original screenplay.

Even with rhythm oscillations and a familiar plot, "The Villainess" entertains lovers of frantic action.

The Villainess was a movie I heard about but I forgot to watch. I only remembered the movie because it was on James Gunn's quarantine watch list. James Gunn is an amazing director since he directed the Guardians of the Galaxy movies which I love so I have huge trust in his taste. The trailer also gave me a female John Wick vibe and the John Wick movies are awesome so I decided to give this a watch. The basic synopsis of this movie is that Sook-hee (Kim Ok-vin) who was honed from childhood to be an elite assassin, is given the chance to live a normal life. However, when two men from her past suddenly appear in her new life, it unlocks dark secrets that should've stayed hidden, and the fallout is swift and explosive. The action in this movie is phenomenal. It even starts with an impressive one shot, first person looking action scene that feels like it came from a video game. It is shot incredibly well with amazing choreography. There is also an amazing motorcycle chase/fight on the motorway with people on motorcycles with swords. Clearly, John Wick Chapter 3 motorcycle scene is HEAVILY inspired by this movie as they are both very similar in style and choreography but the Villainess did it first. There is also an incredible third act fight scene which then leads to an amazing car chase scene. These actions are filmed with such ferocity and intensity with the flabbergasting yet inventive stunts that makes it so thrilling to watch. The director and cinematography incorporates this through the use of frantic and sped up shots similar to that of Kingsman to make it more engaging and exciting. The cinematographer (Park Jung-hun) uses a lot of neon blue for the action scenes that makes the tone feel somber which contrasts the violent fights that are happening. It gives the action a weird sense of beauty in it which is the message this film goes for in its revenge tale and character motivation. The movie is also very gory with its spraying blood similar to that of Kill Bill that adds another element of enjoyment to the movie. The actors are also all very good with a lot of praise to the main actress Kim Ok-vin and Shin Ha-kyun who portrays Sook-hee assassin teacher Lee Joong-sang. Sook-hee is not a female John Wick like the trailer makes it seem like. Sook-hee is indeed a badass but also vulnerable at the same time which is in thanks to Kim Ok-vin performance. There are some emotional moments and Kim Ok-vin really sells the struggle of Sook-hee living a normal life with all these other characters and their dark secrets. Shin Ha-kyun manages to be charming but also mildly creepy as Sook-hee teacher but also badass as well. The other actors in the movie give good performances as well and everyone felt different and unique which makes all the characters stand out in some way. The plot is also intriguing with all the secrets,twist and turns that Sook-hee finds out but... The story is told in such a weird convoluted way. There are random flashbacks that will happen in the movie but they are in a chaotic, incoherent, fragmented order. How I explain this is that most movies that have multiple flashbacks which occur in different parts of the movie would show the character going from point A to Point H which then leads into the beginning of the movie. The Villainess instead has flashback from point C first then point E then point B then point A etc... The movie also starts you straight in the action with no explanation whatsoever that leaves you relatively dumbfounded. It gets even more confusing when the flashback that happens is for something unrelated to the present day stuff. The editing for these flashbacks are just really weird and off-putting and it isn't until near the end when all the flashbacks have occurred that things start to make a little sense. However, it really banks on the audience being able to piece these random flashbacks together and that is difficult if you give a flashback with no rhyme and reason. Additionally, character motivation isn't super clear at times with a lot of characters being constantly vague. This is especially clear near the final act of the movie where a certain character doesn't really clearly state their goals and it just seems thing happen because they need to.There is also a fair amount of moments I just found really dumb and the melodrama can be a bit over the top sometimes. Despite the weird nature of the plot, the movie offers a pure thrilling, kinetic, pulsing and bloody action movie with an enough depth in the story to keep it from being boring. The crazy stunts and awesome fights that inspired future action movies even in that of Hollywood, is enough motivation to give this movie a watch.

Lady can't catch a break can she?

A good action movie but hampered by some confusion in the plotting and editing departments.

THE VILLAINESS is a chaotic, incoherent, fragmented story that is pretty much unfollowable until the end. And even then, it's not clear why anything has happened throughout the narrative. The choreography of the martial art fights is well done. But a large proportion of the violence, blood, and gore is gratuitous as if this was the main point of the movie. The cinematography is good but that's about it. So unless you care for nothing else but unnecessary violence and fight scenes, give it a miss.