There are plenty of buzz-worthy films from quality filmmakers going to Cannes in May including Quentin Tarantino’s INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, Ang Lee’s TAKING WOODSTOCK and Park Chan-wook’s THIRST, just to name a few, but the one that has my full attention is Johnnie To’s VENGEANCE. Based on the trailer above, this looks to be the gunplay actioner of 2009.

VENGEANCE is To’s first international, English-language production. It stars French singer and actor Johnny Hallyday as a French assassin who travels to Hong Kong to avenge a murder. Also starring are top local talents Anthony Wong and To regulars Simon Yam and Lam Suet.

The film appears to be a return to the bold and stylish Hong Kong gangster flicks of the 1980s and ’90s with the same French-leaning inspirations that contributed to John Woo’s gunplay crime classics. Technically, To has never really abandoned this genre since stepping into it in 1988 with THE BIG HEAT, although he has taken many twists and turns since.

What’s unfortunate is that To’s planned remake of Jean-Pierre Melville’s THE RED CIRCLE with the dream team line-up of Liam Neeson, Chow Yun-fat and Alain Delon appears to have been shelved indefinitely as confirmed in an interview with Neeson on AICN. Instead, he’s working on another crime thriller called DEATH OF A HOSTAGE, so far with Lam Ching-wan attached.

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