The Villainess (2017)

Fantastic cinematography

This movie is mind-blowing. At first seeing the bloodbath, you might think that it's just another killing story/movie but it wasn't.

The cinematography is seriously the best part for me with transitions and the timeline perfectly laid out to give you a bit of mystery.

The casts of the film played their parts perfectly as well making the film more realistic. You can feel the emotions of the characters without them saying a lot of words.

The plot is good specially how they made sure that the past and present will not cause any confusion but rather answer the questions you have in mind. I just wished a bit that this wasn't a tragedy story. I would've loved to see the main character living a simple life just like how she wished for it.

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A Solid Action Film Driven by Human Drama

[Written Watched 09 Jul, 2019 for Letterboxd]

Jung Byung-gil's "The Villainess" straddles the fine line of romantic drama and revenge flick with a kind've ease I don't think I've ever seen in an action flick. The dubious relationship between a woman who was raised by a man who seemingly rescues her from a murderer who kills her father, drives much of the protagonists' actions (almost to the point where it begins to feel as though she has no real agency beyond manipulation she is clearly blind to).

The message in the end is that the often overly melodramatic human drama is more important than the violence, and the violence feels all the realer because the script cares about how it impacts its characters.

For all the spectacle that is the film's ability to weave prolonged action sequences together in sharp, frenetic editing that keep up the momentum of the sequence with camera tricks, the choreography really makes the action stand above even the most rote of action movies. It's no wonder the director of "John Wick Chapter 3" lifted an entire action sequence from this film.

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This movie kept me on the edge of my seat the whole time. There's not a single moment where the seas are calm...it's literally nonstop violence, action, and intense moments. Being a lover of action, mystery, horror, and occasional love story on the side, this movie was thrilling. However, as the audience should know, be prepared for deaths and heartache. This is not your typical badgirl turning into a heroine into a lover type of movie. I personally really like sungjoon and his role. He kept her feeling sane and loved throughout the chaos that she faces overall great movie!

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I have mixed deliberations regarding this film. I did revel in its action sequences, especially the opening scene. It was shot in the first-person point of view which made it seem as if I am playing a video game and I was the one in control of all the action. I also liked that Ok-vin's character was not the typical femme fatale whom are oozing with sexual seduction. It was great to have a woman do actual action scenes because it is a necessary part of the plot and not because of the subtle intention of objectifying or fetishizing her. Well, it is doubtful to claim it with utmost certainty, but I just appreciated that she was not portrayed completely using the infamous male gaze.

Though, I have certain doubts regarding the whole story line. I think my problem sometimes with most Korean shows is that even when they're doing thrillers, they almost always have a tendency to become melodramatic. Even the plot twists in this supposedly action film seemed more like a melodrama sensationalism found mostly on makjang dramas—a genre that I just don't seem to enjoy nor appreciate greatly. I am also not a very big fan (especially nowadays) with the "vulnerable past" as a vehicle for most action films. Sometimes, it's just nice to have an action protagonist/s chasing life and death because of a current or future goal.

Still, it was not a wasted experience to have witnessed Kim Seo-hyung, Shin Ha-Kyun, and most especially Kim Ok-vin's exceptional performance. She truly gave an adept and convincing portrayal of being both vulnerable and invincible. She truly was the villainess.

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Talk about a gritty movie, but one done well. Great cinematography and pretty good SFX. The blood color was a little off at certain situations though, and some actions scenes were a bit weird like how people with guns would come at protagonist like as if they were using a blunt weapon and in some instances you see people just clearly staring at her and doing nothing, basically waiting for someone to signal their turn to attack her.

Nonetheless, the premise was good, the concept was great and the story was written decently well and delivered equally well. A few instances where it's a little disappointing how such a well thought out organization would fail to orchestrate more thorough and more effective plans.

From ups and downs, this was a very engaging movie and being the kind of movie it was, it wasn't always clear where it was heading. The casting was pretty good and acting was relevant to the characters.

Not a family friendly movie, but a great afternoon action flick with story depth.

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Condensed

❤️Pros: had good plot story, good fighting scenes, predictibile unpredictable, I liked how they wanted to portray the characters. ? Cons: it was too condensed, felt like I was watching match, after match. Game 1: 20 kills Game 2: 10 kills, 2 knocked out. Bc it was just a 2h movie, they tried incorporating lots of action stuff, but less time for character development and couldn't feel the emotions and care about the characters. This would've of been amazing if it was a short series, they had plenty of material to work with it. Overall it was good, if you are new to this type of plot, you'd enjoy it!

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Came for the action, stayed for the story

I don't know why a lot of people praise the action in this movie, I must commend them for their dedication and it sure must have been quite the effort to stage it and film it, but it's shot in a horrendous and chaotic way. We lack proper perspective or setup for most of it. It's hard to follow when it's first person as well. I think action works at its best when it's a series of "push - release" moments that, in combination with great framing and editing, create a kinetic flow to it.

The motorcycle chase scene in particular stands out as the worst. It's just a mess of shaky cam, awful under-cranking which seems like they actually cut some frames out, and weird editing.

I mean, a lot of the action shots are continuous but they still manage to make it look less slick and coherent than many movies with five times as many cuts. I guess I should blame the camera work.

In fact, this movie is living proof that shaky cam is a lot worse than having many cuts in an action scene. Hong Kong director Corey Yuen is at the opposite end of the spectrum, his action movies have lots of cuts but due to the steady camera work (and precise editing through the cuts), the action stays coherent throughout.

The worst combination is, of course, both of these extreme issues joined together (see: most of Hollywood productions)

HOWEVER, I loved this movie. Came in for the action, stayed for everything else.

The narrative used a lot of wonderful "push-pull" dynamics. If only the action did as well...
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Stunts - 70/100 | Not sure exactly how they filmed some of those stunts which is a plus I guess? This movie is an example of something impressive done behind the camera resulting in... something relatively good on screen but not anything more than that because it's hard to actually see it.

Narrative - 81/100 | I was almost dreading the action-filled finale because the story really drew me in. A great balance of action and drama, shock and tenderness, romance and animosity. It's melodramatic at times but I didn't mind.

Fight Choreography - 67/100 | What I said in the stunts category also applies here. What the action scenes lack in cohesiveness though, they compensate for in terms of violence.

Enjoyment - 84/100 | Kim Ok-bin is the MVP of this movie. Or rather, I thought both actresses playing her character were the MVPs of this movie. But then... apparently she played both versions of herself. How on Earth did they manage to make her look so different before and after plastic surgery?

Or is it what Patrick Stewart refers to when he says "Acting." in a deadpan tone?

If you liked either of LA FEMME NIKITA or THE MAN FROM NOWHERE, be sure not to miss this one.

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Sook " if you want to live you must kill me "
It's the first Korean movie I watched
Even though I watch a lot of Korean series
Because I often watch Chinese and Taiwanese movies
But this is incredibly creative
Although it * resembles the story of the song Tara Cry cry
She and the hero that he fought her father and raised and trained
And when you grow up he loves her
The heroine Sook really created me in every scene between her and the evil hero joong
And specially on the day of marriage when you know
He is not dead and the target must kill him
This incredible scene is 10 stars
A scene when she comes and explodes her apartment is very sad
For her daughter dies
But hero Joong has never seen someone who doesn't like his daughter and decides to kill her
I think he doesn't like her mother and he was just a mistake because he's unreasonably wicked
I wished that the hero is not so evil and that the film has a second part
After this film, I decided to watch Korean movies, especially this kind of movie
Because it is creativity

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The only thing that carried this movie is the FL acting

The 1st third of the movie felt like a fever dream and made me almost quite the whole thing. It has horrible first person camera work that leaves you dizzy, confused and board.
It took me until the last third of the movie to finally understand the plot.
The 2 thirds of the movie where good and kinda interesting but some scenes felt like they are too abstract to the point of seeming out of place.
The acting is good but the only notable performance was from the FL. SungJoon's 1st scene at the apartment was his only shinning moment, while the rest didn't even get the chance to show anything.
I liked the plot but it barely had any details, it felt like a mold written for others to fill in and make it a custom movie with the same general plot line.
A generous 7.5/10 (If it wasn't for the FL's performance, I wouldn't have given the awful camera work anything higher than 6!)

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Action packed, high octane movie with bad ass FL.

Really loved the FL in this, especially in the action scenes. Overall I enjoyed the story and it was good but toward the end it faltered a bit and became too melodramatic. Because the film was inspired by Le Femme Nikita the action sequences were excellent and high velocity and I loved them. This is the first FL action movie I have watched from Korea and it was not a disappointmemt. I put actress Kim Ok Bin up there with Angelina Jolie as my 100% believeable female action star. My only gripe with the movie is the very last scene b/c forget the fact that he killed her father he...**** SPOLIER ALERT**** I won't say but when you watch you will understand. Like why the hell was she hesitating???

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Una película que eleva el listón en cuanto a acción.

Después de revolucionar el cine de acción en la pasada década, películas como The Raid y John Wick elevaron el listón, tal y como Terminator 2 y Matrix lo hicieron en su día.

Y sinceramente, el siguiente paso en cuanto a escenas de acción se refiere, es La Villana. Todavía me resulta casi increíble el visionar las espectaculares secuencias que esta película ofrece, en las que con la boca abierta te preguntas vez cómo consiguieron rodar algo tan demencial y salvaje.

La historia tiene algunos puntos flacos, el reparto simplemente cumple, pero el balance final no deja de ser excelente.

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