John Woo updates his own 80s classic, by shifting the location to Paris, and swapping out Chow Yun-fat for Nathalie Emmanuel.

Emmanuel is Zee in Woo’s updated story. He wrote and directed the original, but this time out, there’s a script by Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell, and Matt Stuecken. The script hits all the familiar beats of the original, while not necessarily improving them. It does flesh out the stories and the characters a little more, however.

Zee is an assassin working for Finn (Sam Worthington), who insists that her targets deserve the death she is delivering them. She’s good. Very good, but on her most recent mission, to eliminate a group of thieves who jacked a huge shipment of heroin, she left someone alive, Jenn (Diana Silvers).

Jenn got involved with the wrong people, and is partially innocent, but in Zee’s attack she’s blinded and hospitalized.

Finn is furious with Zee, she didn’t complete the mission. He demands Jenn be killed, but Zee is having a bit of crisis of conscience. So Finn sends a group of killers after Jenn, and Zee steps in the way.

Working the case from the other side of the law is Sey (Omar Sy) a good cop in a field of corrupt cops, and soon he and Zee are working towards answers separately. Until they aren’t. They team up to keep Jenn alive and stop Finn.

It’s face-paced, but the violence isn’t quite as balletic as seen in the original, and some of the wardrobe choices for Zee aren’t great. The trenchcoat is a nice touch, though.

And while Marco Beltrami has delivered some solid scores in the past, I have to be honest, I didn’t love his work in this one.

I like Sy, and Emmanuel is delightful. There is some nice stunt work, but nothing that would elevate the film to the iconic status of the original.

Visually, this one is a little more sun-drenched than its predecessor, and some of the moments work the better for it. I like that the story is a little more involved. But if you’re going to make me choose, there is no choice. The 1989 version is king.

Still, as an exercise, it’s entertaining enough, but it will never stand up to the original. Sure, the cast is fine, the locations are beautiful, but it doesn’t quite have the oomph of Chow Yun-fat’s iconic look and style that influenced so many countless films since its debut.

Having said that, I’d like to Emmanuel in other ass-kicking films.