The Villainess
Well Go USA Entertainment | Release Date: August 25, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
64
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 21 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
8
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Time Out LondonAnna SmithSep 15, 2017
Director Jung Byung-gil (‘Confessions of Murder’) combines a familiar but fun story with slick combat action, whether it’s in dark streets, seedy clubs or underwater. Read full review
80
The TelegraphRobbie CollinSep 14, 2017
Scrambling to keep up is part of the fun, but nowhere near as much fun as the parts where the film settles on a good idea for a set-piece and just gallops with it. Read full review
80
Total FilmJamie GrahamSep 12, 2017
The plotting is tangled, the emotional undertow slight, but the action keeps on coming, including a blistering multi-player sword fight on speeding bikes. Read full review
80
EmpireHelen O'HaraSep 11, 2017
Frenetic, kinetic action meets satisfyingly soapy drama. See it before everyone tries to copy the best bits. Read full review
80
VarietyMaggie LeeAug 22, 2017
Channeling “La femme Nikita,” “Kill Bill,” Nikkatsu’s ’70s female exploitation films and a gazillion Hong Kong martial arts heroines, The Villainess nonetheless succeeds in being one-of-a-kind for its delirious action choreography and overall narrative dementia. Read full review
80
IGNEdward Douglas
Jung’s The Villainess offers enough action to make up for the otherwise confusing complexity of its storytelling. Read full review
75
Entertainment WeeklyDarren FranichAug 24, 2017
The characters come to life when they fight, and seem half-dead when they talk. Read full review
75
The Film StageJared MobarakAug 22, 2017
There’s something about the overwrought relationships and hidden connections that amplify our excitement. Jung is moving things so fast (despite a runtime just over two hours) that we’re never afforded a pause to roll our eyes or laugh. We instead buckle down since each revelation means Sook-hee is given another reason to fight. Read full review
71
Paste MagazineAndrew CrumpAug 31, 2017
There isn’t an action movie out there in 2017 that’s quite like it (for better or for worse), no action movie either as crazy or as committed to its craziness. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterDeborah Young
The flurry of characters takes a long time to get straight, and identification is made even harder by the nervous handheld camerawork and rapid-fire editing that makes no concessions. But no matter: the film comes into its element in the imaginative action scenes. Read full review
70
Screen DailyAllan Hunter
A satisfyingly convoluted revenge thriller in which the dynamically staged, blood-drenched action sequences are a highlight rather than the film’s sole raison d’être. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubKatie RifeAug 24, 2017
The Villainess delivers all the overstuffed thrills we’ve come to expect from Korean action cinema. But it also strains under the weight of those expectations. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith Watson
When one finally puts together the pieces of the film’s scattered narrative puzzle, The Villainess doesn’t add up to all that much beyond a slick march toward an act of bloody revenge. Read full review
60
The New York TimesTeo BugbeeAug 24, 2017
It’s hard to enjoy the action when you witness its emotional cost, but once Sook-hee starts slashing goons from atop motorcycles, it’s equally impossible to root for the violence to stop. Read full review
60
Village VoiceBilge EbiriAug 23, 2017
The Villainess is entertaining enough, but it’s hard to shake the feeling that we should be caring more for this character as the film goes on, not less. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid Ehrlich
If The Villainess sounds like derivative junk, that’s because it is — but rarely is derivative junk executed with such panache and personality. Read full review
50
Washington PostAlan ZilbermanSep 14, 2017
Without a clear narrative, the story recedes in the face of the movie’s stylized violence — which is, admittedly, glorious, even brazen. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleDavid LewisSep 6, 2017
Director Byung-gil Jung, a trained stuntman, is an expert in staging action set-pieces, and for fans of dazzlingly violent shootouts on motorcycles and buses, this brutal revenge tale should be right up your alley, even if the proceedings often get sidetracked with a confusing back story. Read full review
50
RogerEbert.comSimon AbramsAug 25, 2017
There's a lot of chutzpah on display throughout the film, even during essentially soggy, dialogue-intensive sequences, which are broken up by disorienting flashbacks. But Jung's biggest failing is his inability to make Sook-hee a heroine worth caring about. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangAug 24, 2017
While I’m generally inclined to applaud an action movie that seeks to be more than just an exercise in carnage, The Villainess turns wearyingly stop-and-go whenever it tries to fill in the void of its protagonist’s emotional and psychological history. Read full review
50
The PlaylistBradley Warren
The Villainess confounds its audience on two levels: firstly, how the filmmakers pulled off the elaborate set pieces and secondly, leaving them to wonder what the hell is going on in the plot. Read full review
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