Aknyeo (2017)

A female assassin leaves a trail of bodies behind her as she seeks revenge.

Director:

Byung-gil Jung

Writers:

Byeong-sik Jung, Byung-gil Jung

Stars:

Kim Ok-bin, Shin Ha-kyun, Sung Jun

6 wins & 13 nominations.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kim Ok-bin	...	Sook-hee
Shin Ha-kyun	...	Joong-sang
Sung Jun	...	Hyun-soo
Seo-hyeong Kim	...	Chief Kwon
Eun-ji Jo	...	Kim Seon
Ye-Ji Min	...	Sook-hee (young)
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Hae-Kyun Jung	...	Jang-Chun
Yun-Woo Kim	...	Eun-Hye
Hyuk-Bum Kwon	...	Joong Sang's subordinate #2
Seung-Joo Lee	...	Choon-Mo
Cheol-min Park	...	Sook-Hee's father
Min-Ji Son	...	Min-Joo
Lee Chae Yun

Storyline

Sook-hee is a trained assassin who was born to kill. She was just a little girl when the training started in Yanbian, China. After the death of her mentor, when the chance of starting a new life was given to her, she came to South Korea as a government agent. They promised her that she will be free after ten years of service. So she begins her new life as a theatre actress. But soon two men Joong-sang and Hyun-soo appear in her new life. And she started to find deep dark secrets about her past. Eventually she take matters into her own hands.

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Plot Keywords:

female protagonist | hand to hand combat | katana | female assassin | revenge | 

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Taglines:

An Endless Vengeance Begins.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

18A

Did You Know?

Trivia

The motorcycle ninja fight scene in this movie inspired a similar scene in John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum.

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Goofs

The bottle of Châteaux Margaux in the restaurant scene rotates on the table whilst no-one is drinking or touches it.

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Quotes

Sook-hee: [Repeated line] Mister!

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Connections

References Nikita (1990)

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Soundtracks

When You and I Were Young, Maggie
Lyrics by George W. Johnson
Music by J.A. Butterfield

User Reviews

A blatant Nikita steal - Great action scenes but little else of note

I'm feeling very underwhelmed by this film despite being a great fan of the best of Korean cinema. It's been well advertised of late, but don't fall for any possible hype on the movie posters. I don't even think the title makes sense for this movie.

The biggest problem is that this film is simply too close a homage to the classic French film Nikita, and it's not unfair to say a blatant steal. If you've never seen Nikita then you'll likely enjoy this, otherwise you'll be slumped in your chair for the duration. As there has already been a US remake and TV series based on Nikita, most will already know the premise, further denting its value.

Basically think of 4-5 core characters and themes in Nikita, and you'll find their mirror in this film. Run the two side by side and they are probably the same. Some of the scenes should had a copyright watermark from Luc Besson in the corner they were that alike.

The greatest selling point is the action, with a handful of exceptionally well choreographed and filmed scenes that will leave you applauding, especially the opening run in. Hollywood should take a look in. I haven't been excited and amazed watching action scenes for a long while.

Beyond that, there's little to write home about. Story is a copy, the acting is rarely challenging (although our lead is very good) and the dialogue is so so. Shame really.

The twists and turns are unexciting, and are quite frankly poor and unchallenging. There's little good to say there.

Saying all that, our lead has a young child who steals the scenes whenever she's there, so that's a small saving grace and release valve from all the rest.

Disappointing, but still very watchable for the action scenes if little else. If you do want to watch a great alternative Korean film this year, then I would very much recommend The Handmaiden, watch that instead of this.

Details

Official Sites:

Arrow Films [United Kingdom] Official site [Japan]

Country:

South Korea

Language:

Korean

Release Date:

8 June 2017 (South Korea)

Also Known As:

The Villainess

Filming Locations:

Seoul, South Korea

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,238, 27 August 2017

Gross USA:

$27,741

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,737,458

Company Credits

Production Co:

Apeitda, Next Entertainment World

Technical Specs

Runtime:

124 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1