All sorts of genres are great to watch in regard to female stars. There are dramas, comedies, romcoms, period pieces, thrillers, sci-fi, documentaries, and the list goes on. But one invigorating genre in particular is films that feature women as assassin characters. These films are so totally killer, literally and figuratively, as they portray these silent female predators with a certain smooth, sly aura. While some of these may be more quiet but effective, others are more aggressive and violent, but they are all totally badass. While we are somewhat expecting for assassins to be male and macho types, it is a pleasant surprise when you see female assassins who can contend and outdo even the best of them. These hard core women are inspiring in the sense that they encourage popular culture to reflect that women are just as tough and physically capable as their male counterparts. There have been many great female assassin movies over the years, but some have stood out as especially cool. Some of these top films are newer and feature some cutting edge stunt work, while others have sealed themselves in time immemorial as classic action films. If you’re ready to see some of the most amazing and tough female film characters, check out these 9 best female assassin movies.
Beatrix Kiddo in Kill Bill Volume 1
Kill Bill, directed by Quentin Tarantino, was released in 2003 and starred Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu. The premise follows the lead female assassin who swears revenge on a group of villains after they try to take her out.
Samantha Caine in The Long Kiss Goodnight
Directed by Renny Harlin, and starring Geena Davis, this film follows a suburban school teacher who loses her memory but remembers her past life of being a top-notch government assassin who is in the crosshairs of her former killer clan.
Cataleya in Columbiana
This film was written by Luc Besson and stars Zoe Saldana, who beautifully portrays a high level hit woman who claims the profession after witnessing her parents` brutal murder when she was a young child in Bogotá, Columbia.
Lorraine Broughton in Atomic Blonde
This 2017 film was directed by David Leitch and stars Charlize Theron as an assassin who works for MI16 and uses her sensual appeal as mean of disarming and stupefying her adversaries before totally crushing them.
Lucy in Lucy
Scarlett Johannson delivers an astound performance as an ordinary person who is kidnapped and transformed into a professional super assassin through the uses of performance enhancing drug. She eventually uses her new powers to seek revenge on those who smuggled her initially.
Hanna in Hanna
Set in rural Finland, Saoirse Ronan convincingly plays a young girl who is raised by her father to be a ruthless hit woman, but then eventually starts to question her upbringing and why she has been raised into such violence.
Nikita in Nikita
One of the classics in the female assassin genre, and stars Anne Parillaud playing a tough criminal who is given the options to go to jail or become a trained hit woman for the French government.
Evelyn Salt in Salt
This 2010 spy thriller stars Angelina Jolie, who plays a CIA officer who is eventually accused of becoming a sleeper agent and Russian spy. She has to go on the run to evade capture and try to clean her name by proving her innocence.
Yuki Kashima in Lady Snowblood
Meiko Kaji stars in this thriller who portrays a woman trained from birth to become a vicious professional killer, and eventually seeks revenge of the burglars who wreaked havoc on her family during her childhood.
