Movie review - Night of the Assassin

Night of the Assassin (a/k/a The Assassin) ***1/2 (out of 5) (16+) South Korea has been exporting a lot of high-octane action flicks in the past several years. They tend to emphasize hard-hitting stunts and gritty, dynamic fight choreography, largely eschewing the enhancements (or detriments) of CGI and fanciful wire work. That’s been consistently true for both period pieces and contemporary crime fare. This title led me to expect another dose of slam-bang action. The reality turned out to be more contemplative for much of its running time, before wowing viewers with the inevitable climactic battles in grand style.

In this costume drama, Shin-Hyun Joon stars as Inan who is a rural region’s top assassin – all business; efficient; no ideology or emotions. The film opens with his collapsing after another swift success, and learning that he has a life-threatening heart defect which can only possibly be treated with an extremely rare herb. His cardiac condition leaves him so fragile that he not only must quit his career, but even avoid vigorous sex. He wanders to a remote village, trying to hide his identity and live a peaceful life. He takes a menial restaurant job for a widow (Lee Jung-Min) and the orphaned lad she’d adopted. Unfortunately, a large vicious gang brazenly rules the area, enabled by police and local officials who give them free rein to reign due to bribery and/or fear.

As must be the case in such movies, though Inan tries to remain anonymous, circumstances force him to respond to an imminent threat with his old skills. But it comes at a cost, since his heart keeps letting him down in key moments. The early going is slower, with more levity than expected, before the rest of the plot kicks it up several notches, with a slew of baddies presenting various types of menace for an exciting buildup to the epic final act. The fights are skillfully designed and performed in a package that’s more athletic than gory.

Inan’s flat affect serves well for establishing the persona of an emotional outsider with an evolving, underlying noble concern for the oppressed villagers around him. He’s got a code honor that means everything, including finishing whatever he promises to start. At any cost. The rest of the cast competently fill standard character slots on both sides of the law and economy. Writer/director Jeong-Deok Kwak only teases the action to come for quite a while before cranking out a bunch of genre-satisfying sequences, mostly wielding swords and knives skillfully. Not the start-to-finish thrill ride of many others, but a solid example of the first-rate camera and stunt talents finding steady employment in Korea.

(Night of the Assassin (a/k/a The Assassin), in Korean with subtitles, streams on Hi-YAH! as of 7/21/23, then becomes available on Digital, DVD and Blu-ray on 8/8.)