Uh, Janet Leigh gets killed in the shower at the end of Act 1.

>> Also, film noir protagonists are often victims

Okay, but Joe in “Sunset Boulevard” stills has an objective goal, writing a script that will enable him to get out of debt, break free of Norma Desmond.

The villains in both movies are the more interesting characters. But are they the protagonists? And doesn’t all the fleeing takes place in the 1st Act?

I like the the idea of a very motivated Yakuza enforcer. But, you say he’s not the protagonist. The focal point of a a logline is supposed to be the protagonist, but yours tells me more about the antagonist than the protagonist. Just saying.

” the antagonist may appear more interesting” — as is Darth Vader in the 1st “Star Wars” trilogy. I take your point.

“that extra something that sets a script apart” — Of course, but I just don’t see an ‘extra something’ with a Yakuza enforcer in light of how many other films been made featuring the Yakuza.

Another thing: it is never sufficient for a protagonist in an action genre to be merely fleeing from something. He/she must also concurrently struggling to accomplish something– must have a objective goal. But in the logline, the enforcer is the one with an objective goal. The other guy is just fleeing. (Which is why I asked who was the protagonist.)

So it seems to me the logline might better reflect the protagonist if it were along the lines of “The Londoner must [yada-yada.]… or else …before [ ye ol’ ticking clock ] he is stopped by a Yakuza enforcer sworn to capture him — or commit suicide.”