John Woo is announcing his return to American action movies in the most John Woo way possible; he’s signed on to direct Joel Kinnaman in Silent Night, an action film without a single word of dialogue. The plot revolves around a father going to the underworld to avenge his young son’s death.
Woo revolutionised action cinema in Hong Kong in the late 80s/early 90s with films such as A Better Tomorrow, Bullet In The Head, and Hard Boiled, before bringing his talents to America and gifting us with gonzo cinema such as Face/Off and Mission: Impossible 2.
He hasn’t made an American film since 2003’s Paycheck, but this will be his opportunity to step back into the spotlight and potentially show some of his emulators how it’s done. He’ll have a good partner in crime in Kinnaman, who is no stranger to action movies, having starred in The Suicide Squad, Safe House, and the Robocop remake.
How exactly an action film will be pulled off without any dialogue is anyone’s guess – one would imagine grunts and yells may be permitted – but it will be fascinating to see what Woo can do with only his balletic visuals to keep the movie afloat.
Some older film fans may have gotten their first exposure to Woo’s Hong Kong work without easy access to subtitles anyway, so Silent Night will be a bit of a blast from the past. Woo’s return to American action films would have been exciting on its own; that it’s occurring with this added twist adds an extra layer of intrigue.
#Peace.Love.SilentNight
