Night of the Assassin | aka The Assassin (2023) Review

“Night of the Assassin” Theatrical Poster

Director: Kwak Jeong-deok
Cast: Shin Hyun-joon, Kim Min-kyung, Lee Ro-woon, Lee Moon-sik, Hong Eunki, Kim Byung-chun
Running Time: 100 min.

By Paul Bramhall 

I remember back in 2003, the UK DVD label Hong Kong Legends created a sister label called Premier Asia, of which the intent was to highlight productions from other parts of Asia beyond Hong Kong shores. One of the first titles (possibly even the first?) was the 2000 Korean wuxia movie Bichunmoo which, in a rarity even at the time of writing in 2023, maintained its original title for the western release (although admittedly, it was slapped with an extension of Warrior of Virtue). Having only been into Korean cinema for a couple of years, for myself the movie acted as the first introduction to lead actor Shin Hyun-joon, playing a long-haired lovelorn swordsman whose deadly martial arts style the title alludes to. 

Hyun-joon was already an established actor in 2000, having spent the 90’s playing memorable villain roles in the likes of the film industry reviving The General’s Son trilogy and CGI blockbuster The Gingko Bed. Thanks to Premier Asia though, chances are for most western audiences the image of him as the swordsman from Bichunmoo is the one that springs to mind when Hyun-joon’s name is mentioned. I mention this background, as in 2023 Hyun-joon returned to the screen as a long-haired swordsman in Night of the Assassin, which even just by glancing at the poster, could easily be mistaken for Bichunmoo 2. It’s not, however it’s still a welcome if unexpected surprise to see Hyun-joon returning to the swordplay genre 23 years later.

The cinematic landscape in Korea has significantly changed in that time as well. In 2000 Bichunmoo’s director Kim Yeong-joon brought in Hong Kong choreographer Ma Yuk Sing to direct the action scenes, giving them a wire work fuelled new wave wuxia aesthetic that was likely a carry over from Hong Kong cinema’s popularity in Korea during the 1990’s. However in 2023 the over-the-top nature of the 90’s has been replaced by a more grounded approach, the kind of which can be seen in more recent productions like The Swordsman and Revenger. The change in approach is likely an advantage for Hyun-joon, who now in his 50’s and 20 years out of practice, probably wouldn’t have been best positioned to get wired up and flung all over the screen.

In the director’s chair for Night of the Assassin is Kwak Jeong-deok, who’s mainly known for his scriptwriting and adaptation work on the likes of A Hard Day and Ashfall, and is also responsible for the script here. Jeong-deok’s only previous directorial work was 16 years earlier when he directed an instalment titled Good Wife for the erotically themed TV movie series Temptation of Eve, way back in 2007. How he came to end up on directorial duty here will remain one of those mysteries that occasionally pop up when reviewing Korean cinema, however for the sake of good order, we’ll say that going from an erotically charged TV movie to a Joseon era assassin flick with a 16 year gap is natural progression.

Told via narration, the plot sees Hyun-joon cast as “Joseon’s best assassin”, played as a dark and brooding type who only speaks in low tones and whose sentences often end in a whisper, with an opening scene assassination showing off his ruthless efficiency and refusal to be swayed from delivering on a hit. His life of speaking in hushed short sentences and deadly sword strokes is interrupted though when he falls to his knees clutching his chest after finishing a job, the result of a heart problem he’s been trying to live in ignorance of for a while. A visit to his trusted doctor reveals only a herb which is rumoured to exist called mahwangcho could cure his condition, but considering nobody even knows if it’s actually real or not, the best course of action he can take is to stop practicing martial arts and sex (in that order).

From there, proceedings skip forward a year, and the tone becomes one that’s decidedly different from the expectations the opening establishes. It’s somewhat of a bait and switch, if a low key one, but the good news is it works. Out of a job and sleeping wherever he can lay his hat, the image of the feared assassin is long gone, and in its place is a rather pitiful figure who the local kids consider to be a homeless bum. It’s after he somewhat messily rescues a lady being harassed by a group of bandits that he ends up in the inn she runs, being gifted a bowl of soup for his troubles, an exchange that culminates in him becoming a waiter in the establishment in return for a roof over his head.

Played by Kim Min-kyung (Deep Trap, Miss and Mrs. Cops), together with her son (played by Lee Ro-woon – Suspicious Court, My First Client) the pairs humble lifestyle gradually begins to rub off on Hyun-joon, the process of which takes a decidedly comedic tone. From his ability to skilfully balance a bowl of stew in each hand without spilling any, to his awkward attempts at smiling, the initial third of Night of the Assassin is spent with Hyun-joon as a fish out of water amusingly trying to adapt to the simpler way of life. Like any assassin in such a narrative though, such peacefulness isn’t meant to last, and events gradually begin to take on a much darker tone. For a start the bandits responsible for the death of Min-kyung’s husband escape from prison, and there’s a mysterious glowing eyed presence in the darkness conspiring to cause unrest, all of which combine to inevitably draw Joseon’s best assassin back into the world of killing.

To address the elephant in the room, despite Hyun-joon once being an A-list star, there’s no doubt that Night of the Assassin is a decidedly low budget affair. Owing more to the likes of recent productions like Slate than his output from the early to mid-2000’s, approaching its admirably punchy 100-minute runtime with expectations of anything more will inevitably result in disappointment. Daytime shots tend to rely on the suns positioning for lighting rather than any dedicated lighting department, and many outdoor dialogue scenes suffers from a ‘tinny’ sound quality, alluding to a lack of high-grade sound recording equipment. While it’s understandably a disappointment to see Hyun-joon in a swordplay movie so clearly watching its pennies, thankfully as an actor he hasn’t lost the screen presence which propelled his rise to fame in the 90’s and 00’s, giving Night of the Assassin a sense of levity which isn’t necessarily earned.

What can’t be avoided though, is the fact that the biggest let down is the action scenes. If I was to be kind then the best way to describe them would be functional. They serve their purpose, however the narrative lacks any kind of meaningful showdown or standout choreography, instead overly relying on repetitive sword clanging to convey its aesthetic, one which feels like it never shifts out of neutral. The introduction of a corrupt politician played by Lee Moon-sik (Karaoke Crazies, Public Enemy Returns) serves as the villain of the piece, one who keeps a younger swordman by his side played by Hong Eunki (Mr. Boss, Sing a Song), looking like he just strolled off a K-pop video set. However even when Hyun-joon and Eunki cross paths, it ultimately fails to culminate in any kind of excitement.

The same feeling can be applied to the titular night of the assassin, one which sees Hyun-joon take on a small army of attackers, but again its executed in such a way that lacks any sense of urgency, instead relying on unconvincing CGI blood and blink and you’ll miss them sword strokes to convey any kind of impact. There’s perhaps a better movie somewhere in Jeong-deok’s sophomore effort in the director’s chair, but it’s all too obviously hamstrung by a lack of budget to transfer the script to screen, and an equal lack of any real excitement in the action supposedly portrayed by “Joseon’s best assassin”. Hyun-joon’s return to the long-haired brooding swordsman may be a welcome one, however unlike Bichunmoo from 23 years prior, you’ll be lucky to remember much about Night of the Assassin 23 hours after watching it.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10