Netflix Just Came Out With A John Wick For Moms And It’s A Must Watch
Netflix's latest Korean hit, Kill Boksoon, evolves the John Wick formula in new and interesting ways.
John Wick 4 has been busy kicking all kinds of ass at the box office, but there are only so many times you can watch action legend Keanu Reeves do his thing. What should you turn to, then, when you need to get your awesome action fix without just returning to the comfortable world of The Continental? Most fans of pure action have been telling us the best thing to stream on Netflix right now is the Korean film Kill Boksoon.
If you’ve been a fan of John Wick from the beginning, then the premise of this Netflix film should seem pretty familiar. Like those classic Keanu Reeves films, Kill Boksoon also revolves around a killer who leaves a prestigious world of assassins only to get reluctantly drawn back in. However, what this new movie has to offer is that it merely builds off what John Wick started in order to do something new, which is more than we can say for John Wick knockoffs like Gunpowder Milkshake.
Perhaps the greatest difference between this new Netflix film and the John Wick series is that the protagonist of Kill Boksoon is a female assassin rather than a male one. Gil Bok-soon (whose name the title of the film plays on) is an assassin who must find a way to balance life as one of the most frightening killers in the world with life as a single mother. Thus, like Ant-Man 3, this movie balances family drama with high-flying action, though Kill Boksoon is infinitely more entertaining than anything we’ve gotten recently from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Another thing that makes Kill Boksoon stand out on Netflix is that it added something that the John Wick movies never had: a dash of Harry Potter. In this violent and kinetic world, young warriors learn how to hone their craft and become expert killers. They also learn colorful lingo that seemingly comes right from Hollywood: assassination plans are “scripts,” murders are “shows,” and so on.
While this Netflix film has been gathering plenty of word of mouth on the strength of it being Korea’s answer to John Wick, it’s important to remember that this film is more than just an action extravaganza. Just as we learn more about Keanu Reeves’ reluctant assassin and his motivations throughout those movies, Kill Boksoon shows us a protagonist who would do anything to protect her daughter. In this way, the film appeals to both those who want killer onscreen combat and those who crave the more substantial storytelling of the mother/daughter narrative at the center of this film.
Ultimately, this Netflix movie is a worthy spiritual entry to the John Wick franchise because it is a reminder of what ambitious, high-budget movies can really accomplish. In an age where each new MCU release feels increasingly hollow and empty, Everything Everywhere All At Once showed us that we could enjoy blockbusters films that still told epic stories instead of regurgitating the latest disappointing CGI. Kill Boksoon is part of this same new breed of killer action movie, and we can’t wait for Hollywood to catch up to what is happening in this hidden gem of a film.
