John Woo is gearing up “Manhunt,” a return to the crime genre that made him famous in Hong Kong and around the world with such hits as “A Better Tomorrow,” “The Killer,” “Once a Thief,” “Bullet in the Head,” and “Hard Boiled.” The film is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month and then screening at TIFF the following week.
“Manhunt” is remake of a 1976 Japanese movie and chronicles the plight of a wrongly convicted man, framed for robbery, murder, and rape, who sets out to avenge and find the actual culprits, even as the police are on his tail. It’s a familiar story, but it’ll be interesting to see if Woo still has the chops for the breathless action of the aforementioned Hong Kong classics.
As mentioned, the film is set in the crime genre made him famous back in the late ’80s and early ’90s. The venerable director even said it himself earlier last year describing it as a return to his “older style of filmmaking,” notably mentioning the 1989 classic, “The Killer.”Woo’s last film, “Red Cliff,” was released in 2009 and before that he had a tumultuous Hollywood phase which produced not many successes, although the brilliantly ridiculous “Face/Off” almost makes up for “Hard Target,” “Broken Arrow,” “Mission: Impossible 2,” “Windtalkers,” and “Paycheck.“
We now have a trailer for “Manhunt,” which, by all indications, looks to be a straight-up no-time-for-a-breath thriller. And yes, it features his trademark doves and double guns.
No North American release date has been announced just yet for “Manhunt,” but, that will most likely be determined by its performance at the upcoming fall festivals.
