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‘The Old Woman with the Knife’ Review: A South Korean Assassin Drama Bogged Down By Flashbacks
Min Kyu-dong’s senior citizen actioner 'The Old Woman with the Knife' remixes a familiar premise in novel ways, but seldom turns its screws enough.
While it features an enticing premise, slotting a 65-year-old woman into the underground assassin genre (a position usually reserved for grizzled men and young vixens), its story remains rooted in an inordinate amount of detail, which the film metes out in awkward ways. Suspending one’s disbelief to accept stunt doubles and other tricks of the trade is part and parcel of enjoying the action genre, but “The Old Woman with the Knife” stretches incredulity once too often, with editing and framing that far too often tip the movie’s hand. Some of the movie’s visual flaws — like the malformed CGI snow in its opening scene — can be easily forgiven as a fairytale-like flourishes when a younger, homeless Hornclaw (Shin Si-ah) is taken in by a kindly restaurant owner who also claims to work in pest control.
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