Sonomura has been a badass stuntman for decades now and is one of the best stunt coordinators and action directors currently working. His resume is one long list of kickass action movies. So, it’s always a welcome sight when he gets a turn in the big chair. This is his third go as director, following up the excellent Bad City and Hydra (which has great fights at least). Ghost Killer sees him team up with writer Yugo Sakamoto, the writer/director behind the Baby Assassins franchise, and the result looks much like you might anticipate. In the best way. There’s top-notch action from all players, fun comedy beats to lighten up the mood, and an undercurrent of earnest sweetness you don’t often find in movies about murder and vengeance. (Though they have distinct vibes, there’s clearly a great deal of shared DNA with the Baby Assassin movies.)
[Related Reading: 'Hydra' Movie Review]
As anticipated, the action here is the draw, and it does not disappoint. The film kicks off with a banger of a brawl as Kudo takes on four goons. Throughout, both Matsuoka and Mimoto have ample opportunities to show off and throw down, and each is more than up to the task. In Sonomura’s capable hands, the fight choreography is, unsurprisingly, fabulous, intricate and ferocious. He shoots the action with plenty of camera moves and flourishes, but it’s never intrusive or distracts from the performances. Even as the frame twists and turns, he favors long takes of skilled fighters pummeling one another over showy cuts. Watching Fumika tear apart a bar full of men who try to roofie her is a sincere pleasure. It all climaxes in one of an absolute all-timer between Mimoto and Naohiro Kawamoto, himself a fantastic stunt performer and action coordinator. If it’s not the best movie fight of 2024, we’re having a hell of a year. (It tops their previous tussle in Hydra, which is a feat.)
Takaishi shines at the center of the film, deftly flipping back and forth between Fumika’s perky young woman and a grizzled career criminal, convincingly portraying two distinct characters arguing with each other inside the same body. She plays a similar but more serious character to her Baby Assassins role and is once again overflowing with charisma. Mimoto infuses Kudo with heavy weariness, the weight of his choices having finally caught up with him. They become the cutest and weirdest besties and rub off on each other in positive ways. She learns to stand and be strong and powerful on her own, while he realizes doing good and helping people may be better than being a violent bad guy. Funny how that works out. Their bond is the emotional core of the film that anchors and gives weight to everything else.
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The only real knock is that there are times, sprinkled throughout, where exposition dumps drag down the pace. It gets bloated in places and trimming these moments would go a long way toward streamlining the momentum and picking up the tempo. The charm and action mostly sooth this out and it’s not a fatal flaw, but things come to a near standstill too often.
Ghost Killer injects sweet, earnest emotionality into a violent story about gangsters and assassins that includes something best described as crotch bowling. It has fun playing with ghost story cliches—when Fumika runs away, Kudo keeps popping up, “It seems I appear in front of you any time you’re 15 feet away.” Clever editing allows us to see both characters fight—we see Fumika fight as herself, but also often as Kudo. Overall, this is an entertaining ride with heart, humor, and badass action.
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