Villainess, The (Aknyeo) (Blu-ray) (2017)

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General		Extras
Category	Action	None
Rating
Year Of Production	2017
Running Time	123:34
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Jung Byung-gil
Studio Distributor	Icon Entertainment	Starring	Kim Ok-bin Shin Ha-kyun Sung Jun Kim Seo-hyeong
Case	Standard Blu-ray
RPI	?	Music	Koo Ja-wan

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	Korean DTS HD Master Audio 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	2.40:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	2.40:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English (Burned In)	Smoking	Yes
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     The Villainess (Aknyeo) begins with a seven minute sequence in a building in which an unseen assassin shoots and slices their way through a huge array of assailants leading to a man who appears to be the boss. When the assassin is revealed to be a woman she has left a bloody trail of bodies in her wake and the boss is dead. The Police arrive and the blood-splatted woman, Sook-hee (Kim Ok-bin), is taken away.

     After this opening the film settles down to tell its story but it is done in a very convoluted way; there are numerous interposed flashbacks and memories and characters appearing with no explanation all mixed in with the action sequences so that it takes a long time to get any idea of the plot. The general gist is as follows. When she was a young girl Sook-hee’s father was murdered by a gang seeking a jewel he had stolen and hidden. Some years later Sook-hee is rescued by Lee Joon-sang (Shin Ha-kyun) whom she later marries. Joon-sang is later also murdered in an underworld killing and Sook-hee went on the revenge rampage we saw at the beginning of the film. A secret Korean organisation has, however, witnessed Sook-hee’s fighting skills. She is recruited and offered a choice by Chief Kwon (Kim Seo-hyeong); become a new person, join the organisation and be trained as an assassin. Discovering that she is pregnant, Sook-hee agrees for the sake of her unborn child.

     Sook-hee undertakes the training and later gives birth to a daughter, Eun-hye. She successfully completes her training and undertakes her first assignment after which she is provided with an apartment and allowed to live a “normal” life with her daughter. However, this does not mean that Sook-hee is trusted; Hyun-soo (Sung Jun), a male graduate of the organisation, is placed in the apartment next door to Sook-hee; if he can win her trust he will get a promotion! Sook-hee and Hyun-soo gradually become friendly until they decide to get married. But on their wedding day Sook-hee encounters two people from her past and matters quickly fly out of control until the explosive climax when the identity of the murderer of her father is finally revealed.

     The Villainess was co-written and directed by Jung Byung-gil and its similarity in plot to Luc Besson’s La Femme Nikita (1990) is apparent. But La Femme Nikita was straightforward compared to The Villainess. As noted, the chronology in The Villainess is jumbled, with flashbacks and memories to different parts of Sook-hee’s past, some of which don’t make sense until much later. As well loyalties are always in question; Sook-hee, who has a cover as an actress and whom we see acting on stage, is always playing a part and it is not clear if she is an agent, a double agent or something else entirely. Both the men in her life, Joong-sang and Hyun-soo, are also not who they pretend to be. A repeated refrain between Sook-hee and Hyun-soo as their relationship develops is “let’s trust each other”, something that is obviously not happening! Parallel to this is the invasive surveillance that occurs throughout the film; somebody is always watching and manipulation is the name of the game.

     Between action sequences, this subterfuge and convoluted plotting can become a bit tedious. But when the fights start all is quickly forgotten for the action is frenetic, chaotic, heart in mouth stuff. The opening is shot like a first person shooter game; all we see before the reveal of Sook-hee is her hands with guns, and later knives, as she shoots and dices her way along the corridors, through doors and various rooms, killing everyone as she goes. This sequence, and subsequent action sequences, are shot hand-held with jerky pans, quick cuts, sprays of blood, yells and the impact of bullets and edged weapons; they are loud and kinetic although it is hard to tell exactly what is going on. There are diverse fights with a variety of weapons, brutal hand to hand fights and a motor bike chase with swords while the climax features another chase and a fight inside a careering bus! Those looking for action will not be short changed!

Video

     The Villainess is presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, in 1080p using the MPEG-4 AVC code.

     Despite the swirling, in close, hand held camera in the fights which result in a reduction in detail most of the film is solid and there is no motion blur, a fine achievement given the camera style. Much of the film’s action takes place at night or in dark rooms but blacks and shadow detail is excellent. The colour scheme is muted and colour manipulation is in play in many scenes with a green or yellow tinge, while at other places there are some vivid reds. Daylight scenes are more natural. Contrast and brightness is consistent. I did not notice any marks or artefacts.

     The white burnt in English subtitles are error free.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio for The Villainess is Korean DTS-HD MA 5.1.

     This is a loud, enveloping audio. Dialogue is clear. The surrounds and rears featured rain, thunder and music and, during the action, shots, bullets whizzing, the clash of knives, engines, impacts, cries and the thud of bodies hitting the floor or breaking through glass. The score by Koo Ja-wan was fairly standard. The subwoofer added boom to the action, impacts and the bus crash.

     I did not notice any lip synchronisation issues.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     No extras. The silent menu offers only “Play Film / Chapters”

     Although our release from Icon starts with the Well Go USA logo, the US Region A Blu-ray release of The Villainess adds two short (around 2 minutes each) featurettes plus the teaser and theatrical trailers. It also includes an English dub. The Region B UK release includes an audio commentary by critics Sam Ashurst and Dan Martin and a trailer. Although a reviewer of the UK release was not impressed with the commentary, that release seems marginally the better option.

     The Villainess adds a daughter into the mix and with its jumbled chronology and mystery elements is trying to be more than a standard action film. The convoluted plotting is confusing, however, and the romance and comedy feels forced but the action is what the film is really about, and there no-one will feel short-changed.

     The video and audio are very good. We miss out on the extras available in other regions.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall