Unusual Netflix thriller combines John Wick action and the best sci-fi movie of the last year

Few films have shaped action cinema over the past decade as much as John Wick. From the neon look to the organized hitman milieu: Ever since Keanu Reeves first took up arms to avenge the murder of his beagle, Hollywood has been squinting towards the styled action spectacle and tries to repeat the success of John Wick.

From Terminal to Gunpowder Milkshake to Kate: Very few films of this kind dare to break the tried and tested formula. They are mostly interested in the cool interface and casual poses. Appearance: Kill Boksoon. The latest action thriller from Netflix celebrated its world premiere today at the Berlinale and is proving to be a thrilling John Wick variation with multiverse twist.

With Kill Boksoon, Netflix delivers a strong John Wick replacement at the Berlinale

No, we’re not dealing with a Marvel extravaganza à la Spider-Man: No Way Home and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Kill Boksoon does not delve into fantasy worlds, nor does it have any otherworldly super villains. Rather, the film is similar in its design to the surprise hit Everything Everywhere All at Once. He ended up at Moviepilot crazy sci-fi trip at the top of our Top 25 Best Movies of the Last Year.

You can watch the trailer for Kill Boksoon here:

As in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Kill Boksoon’s story focuses on a complicated mother-daughter relationship, which is thoroughly mixed up with playful genre twists. The titular Bok-soon (Do-yeon Jeon) is Assassin and single mother. Just a moment before a brutal murder followed by a cozy dinner with the offspring.

The daughter, Jae-yeong (Si-a Kim), doesn’t know anything about her mother’s dubious machinations. However, Bok-soon is a big name in her industry, if not the biggest. So far she has fulfilled every order to the absolute satisfaction of her clients. She is the most valuable killer in the catalog of elite murder agency MKwhich secured a monopoly with its business and established three rules:

Action hit on Netflix: Kill Boksoon is the multiverse version of John Wick

Where John Wick adds more mythology with every part, which bloats the films unnecessarily, Kill Boksoon puts the logistics of killing on the table right from the start. Basically, we are in a company with clear hierarchies that breeds its own lethal staff. MK seems like one of those labels trying to be the next internationally successful Girl group or boy band build up.

Kill Boksoon dissects capitalism in gaudy images that look like individual panels from a comic. It’s the first fight extremely stylized and lets us experience the movements through trains rushing by and as reflections in puddles. As a traditional samurai sword meets an ax from the nearest Walmart, Kill Boksoon rewinds through different versions of the fights.

At the beginning there are only short breaks from the main timeline of the film, but by the finale it becomes clear that Kill Boksoon is very fascinated by the aesthetic possibilities of the multiverse: The decisive confrontation takes place in countless variations. First they are lined up as a montage before all fights at the same time take place in a picture – like a ceiling painting in a church.

Netflix’s Kill Boksoon goes an important step further than the other John Wick clones

This is visually stunning and makes for several strong action moments that go with their gigantic flow of movement inspire. A new attack can come out of every corner of the picture and be followed by a completely different fight coming to the fore. But what makes Kill Boksoon work so well is due to something else: the emotional core of the story.

Many of the John Wick clones mentioned stick to the obvious appeals of this subgenre of action movies, most notably the neon lights and elaborate combat. Kill Boksoon goes one step further and connects each main character to one tragic element, which gradually replaces the comic-like caricatures and ensures a dramatic drop. At the end of the day, everything is really at stake

Again, Kill Boksoon joins forces with Everything Everywhere All at Once. Apart from the spectacle that both films deliver non-stop, it is about looking inside the characters. In order to protect her daughter, Bok-soon has to break every rule the film has set beforehand. One unexpectedly touching deconstructionwhich is urgently needed in view of the many cynical John Wick blends.

Kill Boksoon is from the March 31, 2023 Available to stream on Netflix.

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