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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Rent it for the story, not the fights..., October 17, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: The Assassin (DVD)
I must admit, I was suckered into buying this off the shelf cause it promised on the packaging that the fights would "satisfy even the most hardened action fan". Well, if you're new to this genre then the fights might satisfy you, but if you've seen others like this they won't be very special. Most of the fights are of the wire-fu variety but two stand out. There is a fight involving an overpass that reminded me of a Shaw Brothers fight scene. Involving lots of fighters with weapons, the scene looked as if it was shot on a studio set and had a claustrophobic feel to it. The other scene stood out cause it was so lame. The second half of a two-part fight at the end, this scene was lame cause it reminded me of the ending in "Burning Paradise"(highly recommended) where the all-powerful evil eunach guy used magic instead of martial arts to fight his opponent. Having said that, the story is where the film really captures you. There's a tragic love story in here, but the competition between the three top main assassins quickly become the main plot-line as the film progresses. I really found this aspect of the film very engaging. Our main character is the #2 assassin, he is looked up to by his protoge the #3 top assassin(interestingly, the movie takes his point of view at times in the movie), while lurking in the background is the #1 assassin. The competition between these 3 to be the top is very interesting and held my interest despite the lack of "excellent" fights. However, even this aspect was not without its shortcomings. The #1 assassin's character was not developed enough. We get into #2 and #3's relationship, as well as the former relationship between #2 and his lover, but the top assassin doesn't have much of a background. So despite the lack of budget for the film, the omission of more character development(for one character anyway), good but non-spectacular action sequences, and the fact that assassin #3 looks like a guitarist for an 80's Japanese metal band, I can still recommend this film as a rental at least because of its storyline. If you want a similar-themed story but with more intense fights check out Tsui Hark's "The Blade". Or try the previously mentioned "Burning Paradise" by Ringo Lam. (DVD info: Tai Seng spec. ed., widescreen, different trailers, and an informative 3-participant audio commentary).
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
almost a good movie, August 26, 2006
This review is from: The Assassin (DVD)
Well the movie was bad, but the acting was brilliant. The cinematography was sweet, the look of the movie was pretty good, but the action was just weird. Their were some GREAT fights, but only 2 that I can think of. If you are a true martial arts fan, you may want to stay away from this.
It is the story of Tong Jan. In one of my 2 favorite scenes of the movie he is in a fight with like 9 people, every man for themselves. It was really cool and you just don't see stuff like that too often anymore. So he wins and is hired under the emporer(actually the eunuch) as one of his many great assassins. He is given the name of the Slasher(aka Tong Jan). I don't really want to give too much away but Rosamand Kwan is pretty good in this and surprisingly Max Mok is REALLY good. I could not believe it, I have always hated this guy since he replaced Yuen Bioa in OUATIC part 2. MAybe it is just becasue he is carrying around a really sweet sword, btu he actually looked kind of tough in this flick. So we do get a REALLY good fight at the end but the FINAL fight was weak like the whole movie was. This movie has a very good amount fo violence btu not enough really good fights. No action stars in this, just doubling work. But Tong Jan carries the movie nicely.
Also the movie is only 75 minutes long and then the credits role, seriously.
Their is a commentarry that is REALLY good. Yeah, I know, I like the capitolized words. It is Ric Myers, Bobby Samuels, AND Frank Jane. I wish the movie would have been longer so these guys could have talked more.
All in all, other reviewers are dead on telling you to check out the Blade instead of this. But if you have seen that, this is worth a rental I guess.
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Swordplay Assassins!, April 21, 2002
This review is from: The Assassin (DVD)
I bought this film without knowing a thing about it. After viewing it, I was completely satisfied. THe Assassin is a great swordplay film. The director filmed it focusing more on art content rather than action, but it still delivered the action with finess. I would put the style of the film along the lines of Bride with White Hair, but with more action.(The Assassinn has at least 7 cool fight scenes which all seem to have their own style) The plot is good, and free of comedy. The actors are well suited to their roles. Particuarlly Max Mok, with his wild hair style as he assassinates his targets. The background music also compliments the secens. The English dubbed feature is quite good, if you don't like subtitles. Their is also a Vietnamese, Cantonese and Mandarin, language track if your curious about language versions. Tai Seng is getting better with its releases. For the price, The Assassin is a great pick. It's short, about 81 minutes, but you'll probabally want to view it more than once to take in the story, art direction, and of course the fight scenes. My wife liked this film too which is rare. If you're curious about The Assassin, try it out, I'm sure you'll like it.
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