Howard Chang

AVOID THIS MOVIE – Don’t Waste Your 2.5 Hours You’re better off doing something else—or just watching (or rewatching) the John Wick series. I don’t usually write movie reviews, but this one was so bad that I had to. The first 10 minutes are actually worth five stars—probably why so many people rated it highly—but everything goes downhill from there. The rest of the movie is a complete disaster. It features two separate storylines that have no real connection, making it seem like they were added just to extend the runtime. Our protagonist is supposedly a trained assassin—okay, maybe just an apprentice, but still, she’s completed real missions, right? Yet, she inexplicably allows herself to be caught on CCTV, commits mass murder in the loudest and most reckless way possible, and behaves nothing like a professional assassin should. The director tries way too hard to keep the protagonist alive. She gets captured multiple times, yet every single time, she’s miraculously saved by a poorly structured plot. It just doesn’t make sense. Then there’s the last 30 minutes. Her fellow assassins are sent to clean up the mess, but instead of doing their job, the so-called villain wastes time talking nonsense, underestimates the protagonist, and—despite having a clear opportunity—fails to kill her at point-blank range. And the final fight? Absolutely the worst. Just moments before, the protagonist is bloodthirsty and determined to kill her own teacher, yet when her teacher sacrifices herself, she suddenly breaks down in an emotional mess. Is she psychotic? That would at least explain why she randomly decides to kill so many people for no apparent reason. And the last scene? Completely nonsensical. The protagonist is about to be captured by her assassin group, yet once again, she’s miraculously saved—this time by her teacher’s master. But why? As the master, wouldn’t your loyalty lie with the organization? Why the betrayal? And then comes the most baffling part—the master tells her, “It seems like you’re my responsibility now.” Huh? WHAT? Why? She broke every rule of being an assassin—rules that are meant to keep things secret and discreet—and yet, instead of facing consequences, she gets saved? This movie also contains scenes of sexual abuse—probably included to showcase how ruthless the villains are?—along with a lot of gruesome, bloody, and brutal kills. Maybe the entire budget was spent on fake blood, broken limbs, and massive wounds, and they had no money left to hire a better writer for the plot. I could go on—there’s just so much wrong with this movie. But if you strip away the characters, the story, and the nonsense, and focus only on the action? Yeah, maybe it’s good.