Actor Jang Hyuk‘s reunion with The Swordsman helmer Choi Jae-hun is turning out some great prospects this year. Their latest film, The Killer, has set sail for releases this summer with screening throughout North Americas, including recently in Los Angeles, and this month in time for the twentieth New York Asian Film Festival, with Hyuk in attendance to receive the Daniel A. Craft award for Excellence In Action Cinema in both films.
Long story short, it’s a damn good time to be a fan of Jang Hyuk, with The Killer already striking buzz with folks who’ve already screened the film, and while a brief U.S. short promo launched a few weeks ago, it now comes an official trailer over at Apple courtesy of Wide Lens Pictures. A select-theatrical release has been set for July 13, while folks keen on joining the NYAFF crowd can do so at the Walter Reade Theater for its July 19 screening at 6:30pm, with tickets currently available; folks in Montreal attending this year’s Fantasia Festival may acquire their tickets as well as of July 9.
This explosive compound of Asian action cinema tropes and triumphs is a balls-to-the-wall thrill ride of suspenseful combat bravado and then some. The story follows a retired hitman (Jang Hyuk, reuniting with the director of The Swordsman) forced to babysit a 17-year-old girl who naturally can’t stay out of trouble. When she ends up kidnapped by ruthless gangsters, he turns super-vigilante to save her. Harrowing stunts, electrifying fights and breakneck narrative twists ensue in this rousing celebration of cinematic badassery. Told with self-referential savvy, the film features great hat tips to some zeniths of the genre, from The Man from Nowhere and A Bittersweet Life to Takeshi Kitano. All of this adds up to a superlative genre effort.
New York Asian Film Festival
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