\n<\/p>\n
Stream it on Netflix.<\/a><\/p>\n Between \u201cGunpowder Milkshake,\u201d \u201cBaby Assassins,\u201d and \u201cKill Boksoon,\u201d the hit woman subgenre is bubbling with new subversive takes on the masculine hired gun motif. The Korean director Lee Chung-hyun\u2019s \u201cBallerina\u201d<\/a> picks up those reins for a film about Okju (Jun Jong-seo), a retired bodyguard seeking to avenge the brutal murder of her dancer friend Minhee (Park Yu-rim) at the hands of a ruthless underworld predator (Kim Ji-hun).<\/p>\n While the film finds thematic strength in Okju fighting a toxic patriarchy, it\u2019s also a visual feast. Okju\u2019s confrontation with convenience store thieves, in which she uses a can as a deadly weapon, is a whirling, cleanly composed sequence. The vibrant pink, purple and gold lighting \u2014 stylish touches that outline the close friendship shared by Okju and Minhee \u2014 often gives way to gritty and grimy shocks of violence. Those moments, which rely on Jun\u2019s balletic movements, add a fierceness to this story.<\/p>\n Stream it on Netflix.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n A \u201cJohn Wick\u201d sensibility crosses borders in this Nigerian film from the director Editi Effiong. Richard Mofe-Damijo stars as the retired assassin Paul Edima. Trouble ensues when men who work for the brutal General Isa (Alex Usifo Omiagbo) murder a young man with the intent of framing him for their political crimes. Unbeknown to them, he is Paul\u2019s son. Though they later try their best to quell Paul\u2019s anger through bribes, he ultimately teams with the investigative journalist Vic Kalu (Ade Laoye) to expose the corruption within the country.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \u201cThe Black Book\u201d cleverly deploys Wickian gunplay using an older protagonist. Paul has clearly lost a step; and yet, he doesn\u2019t lack determination. When the army arrives to exterminate him, what follows is Paul quietly moving from victim to victim in the dark night like a ghost, slashing with quiet command. But this film ends with an all-woman army of mercenaries joining the act, preventing it from being a mere copy of a trope, and instead turning it into a unique Nigerian take.<\/p>\n Stream it on Hi-Yah!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Chinese director Qiao Lei\u2019s period revenge tale concerns a treasure map that disappeared and has now re-emerged. The villainous Bao Shu (Chun Yu Shan Shan) wants it, and leads his army of mystical killers to venture into the forest of Feihu Mountain where a legendary warrior called the Hidden Fox lurks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n That fabled killer is a MacGuffin for Gui Yu (Zhao Huawei), one of Shu\u2019s adept swordsmen who has a secret goal in mind. The film\u2019s smooth production design, its stunning use of texture \u2014 extreme close-ups on snow give these fights a poetic punch \u2014 and the nuanced performance by Zhao keeps you engaged in a slippery yet assured pursuit for payback.<\/p>\n Stream it on Netflix.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The Malaysian director Syamsul Yusof\u2019s \u201cMat Kilau\u201d is a martial arts film placed in an anticolonial story. To harness the country\u2019s gold, the British government, led by the racist Captain Syers (Geoff Andre Feyaerts), is destroying villages, killing dissenters and subjugating a slave work force. The film\u2019s opening sequence witnesses one such massacre, a slow-motion vision of widespread death. The country\u2019s Indigenous leadership empowers the unassuming warrior Mat Kilau (Adi Putra) to defeat the British army.<\/p>\n The film\u2019s realistic explosions are a seamless mix of visual and practical effects. And the choreography of immense battles gives the movie scale. Florid camera movements, such as a spinning bird\u2019s-eye view shot of a showdown between Kilau and a mercenary adds flair too. But it\u2019s the film\u2019s exploration of how smaller forces can combat a formidable power that elevates Yusof\u2019s film from a culturally specific political critique to a broad rallying cry for the dispossessed.<\/p>\n\u2018The Black Book\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018The Flying Swordsman\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Mat Kilau\u2019<\/h2>\n
\u2018Plane\u2019<\/h2>\n