Night of the Assassin (2023) User Reviews

Fun!

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 15 August 2023]

Directed by Kwak Jeong-deok, Night of the Assassin is the story of a killing machine named Lee Nan (Shin Hyeon-jun), who discovers that he has a deadly, long-dormant health condition. As he goes into hiding to seek the magical herb that can heal him - mahwangcho - he learns that he can't stay hidden for long, as the restaurant owner Seon-hong and her son Chil-bok who took him in are under threat.

Now that Lee Nan is sick, it's easy for the women and her son to only see him as a beggar. But to the other killers, he's now a target, as they may finally have an advantage against him. Well, his doctor said he can never fight again. Or be with a woman. He better find that healing herb soon, right?

Just a simple waiter at Seon-hong's cafe, Lee Nan must eventually battle gang boss Ibang (Lee Moon-sik), who has the locals all hooked on opium and whose bandits are keeping him from seeking his cure. All the while, Lee Nan is going through a crisis of the soul, wondering if this is his punishment for a life spent killing others.

I really enjoy this movie. It feels kind of like a fairy tale and does a great job of presenting the emotional toll that being a bad ass action hero must put on your soul.

Any time of the day

[kosmasp · 6/10 · 24 December 2023]

No pun intended - depending on where you are, you may get a title for this reading "Night of the Assassin". It makes sense that an Assassin is going on about his business at night. Still that does not mean, we only get to see him then. Or for "one night only" - there are more than one night(s) here. Just saying and clarifying for those interested.

Also for those interested, the movie from South Korea ... while I may be leniant at times, I sometimes do compare movies to other stuff and have to say that this is at the same level I am used to. That said, it does not mean that this is a bad movie. Far from it - I am just used to a different quality when it comes to movies from South Korea.

Video quality is one of those things that immediately catches your eye! Same applies here - it is not bad, but you feel that it is not .... well perfect! Again I may be nitpicking, but if I didn't explain, I reckon you may feel "cheated". The story is quite simple or easy to follow - and that I don't mean as a negative. Action is more than decent too - so if that is the main focus you have ... have at it as they say!

The soundtrack ruined this movie, so painful to watch!

[MovieIQTest · 22 October 2023]

This movie is maybe one of the best samples to be singled out for the movie viewers how a movie was completely ruined by the choice of soundtrack. I really don't know if hiring a guy to do the supporting sound effects music is the job of the producers or the director. But the music that syncs with every scene with such ridiculous cartoon-like comic music in this movie is such unbearable torture, making the movie very difficult to take seriously and pulling me into it. There are so many times when the leading actor deals with some situations that he encounters, the tip-toes-like annoying childish soundtrack would goof up; the situations may be intense and suspenseful, but the music simply turns them into a comic-like crap.

In order to show that the leading role has a terminal disease, the actor also tries to act like a sick man, but his acting is simply overdone with deadbeat facial expressions all the time, making his face so unbearably ugly to watch.

The third problem of this movie is the dialogue. It often comes out like the characters are making jokes, even those scenes are supposedly deadly. This is a very inferior screenplay, written by a halfwit.

The director is also not a good and appropriate choice for this movie. How a serious "Assassin" movie to be directed by this moronic non-talent guy is too, a rare case in nowadays Korean movie industries.

This movie also reminded me of those childish Kun-Fu martial arts movies churned out one after another in the 70s' by the Hong Kong SHAW Brothers. But even by comparison, this Korean movie is much much worse. Bad acting, bad actors, bad screenplay, bad directing, worst soundtrack...it's just so bad, I can't believe that a Korean movie could be so bad.

Not very good.

[iLikeStuffSometimes · 3/10 · 2 December 2023]

Campy, clumsy, bad acting, silly Go-Pro cuts, looney-toons sound effects, no emotion, moldy peas, forgettable villains, Shaw Bros style production without the aesthetic or soul. It's a movie.

The overall ramping of this film takes on so many curves. It feels like 3-4 different films in one while never making anything cohesive. Twists? You bet. Turns? Okay. A villain that is so stereotypically boring? How about three or four.

The protagonist plays an assassin turned server but still never seems to bring anything of substance to the proverbial table. His palms are sweaty, hearts weak, face is steady, he'd like to catch a chicken but keeps on forgetting, how to walk around, cause he obviously has never done that before and he likes soup, blah blah blah. Ninjas.

Simple movie with action, what more do you need?

[ranseybella · 9/10 · 24 November 2023]

I watched this on Youtube and IMO thought it was well done with brief moments of funny (Moldy Peas) but an easy plot to digest, sort of like an American Western.. Good acting and story I liked it and so did my wife.. Good guy vs corrupt government,sound familiar? Thank goodness we weren't bombarded with Weightless nonsense Theatrical Wushu, that has been much overused in modern marshal arts films since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!! As far as the soundtrack, It's not like they played Boots Randolph "Yakety Sax" through the whole movie get over it.🤣 Hoping for a sequel soon..I watched this on Youtube and IMO thought it was well done with brief moments of funny (Moldy Peas) but an easy plot to digest, sort of like an American Western.. Good acting and story I liked it and so did my wife.. Good guy vs corrupt government,sound familiar? Thank goodness we weren't bombarded with Weightless nonsense Theatrical Wushu, that has been much overused in modern marshal arts films since Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!! As far as the soundtrack, It's not like they played Boots Randolph "Yakety Sax" through the whole movie get over it.🤣 Hoping for a sequel soon.