Rating: 
Summary: 3 stars ONLY because of Sly.
Review: "Assassins", just one more in a seemingly endless (until "Cop Land") string of bad career moves by Sly Stallone. The "plot" <ahem> centers around Robert Rath (Stallone), a veteran hitman who is haunted by his violent past, and wants out of his profession. But he is being toyed with by a younger hitman named Miguel (Antonio Banderas), who wants to make a name for himself by taking Rath out. Let's get right down to it: Sylvester Stallone was the only reason to even think about watching this movie. He's always been good at playing characters that, haunted by past violent mistakes, yearn for second chances (like John Rambo in the original "First Blood"; Gabe Walker in "Cliffhanger"), and his turn as Robert Rath is no exception. Richard Donner's direction was horrible, a mishmash of weak camera tricks and unnecessary quick cutting. Julianne Moore's performance in this movie is the total opposite of every good one she would give later in her career: in this, she makes for good eye candy, but not much talent or charisma on display for her thankless role as a mark caught between two hitmen. No indication of the incredibly talented actress she would become soon after "Assassins". And Antonio Banderas. Antonio, Antonio, Antonio. I'd be surprised if any self-respecting vegetarian could watch Antonio Banderas act in this movie, because he makes for the biggest ham you ever saw. I couldn't understand half the character's lines without putting on the captions. Word of advice to Antonio Banderas: speaking in a growling half-whisper with a heavy accent does not equal acting. And did his character Miguel have enough gel in his hair?! Scrape some of that gunk off, and you could've solved the world energy crisis. I saw it, I tolerated it, but you should use extreme caution when dealing with "Assassins". - *** out of 5
Rating:
Summary: 3 stars ONLY because of Sly.
Review: "Assassins", just one more in a seemingly endless (until "Cop Land") string of bad career moves by Sly Stallone. The "plot" centers around Robert Rath (Stallone), a veteran hitman who is haunted by his violent past, and wants out of his profession. But he is being toyed with by a younger hitman named Miguel (Antonio Banderas), who wants to make a name for himself by taking Rath out. Let's get right down to it: Sylvester Stallone was the only reason to even think about watching this movie. He's always been good at playing characters that, haunted by past violent mistakes, yearn for second chances (like John Rambo in the original "First Blood"; Gabe Walker in "Cliffhanger"), and his turn as Robert Rath is no exception. Richard Donner's direction was horrible, a mishmash of weak camera tricks and unnecessary quick cutting. Julianne Moore's performance in this movie is the total opposite of every good one she would give later in her career: in this, she makes for good eye candy, but not much talent or charisma on display for her thankless role as a mark caught between two hitmen. No indication of the incredibly talented actress she would become soon after "Assassins". And Antonio Banderas. Antonio, Antonio, Antonio. I'd be surprised if any self-respecting vegetarian could watch Antonio Banderas act in this movie, because he makes for the biggest ham you ever saw. I couldn't understand half the character's lines without putting on the captions. Word of advice to Antonio Banderas: speaking in a growling half-whisper with a heavy accent does not equal acting. And did his character Miguel have enough gel in his hair?! Scrape some of that gunk off, and you could've solved the world energy crisis. I saw it, I tolerated it, but you should use extreme caution when dealing with "Assassins". - *** out of 5
Rating:
Summary: Not a great but at times Clever Thriller.
Review: A Professional Hit-Man by the name of Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone) finds himself haunted after a Hit goes wrong. Another Professional Hit-Man named Bain(Antonio Banderas) targets him as an unwanted rival but things get complicated, when Robert gets involved with an attractive Computer Hacker (Julianne Moore). Directed by Richard Donner (Lethal Weapons Series) shows a stylish thriller but It`s also a slow moving thriller. It`s a huge Box Office disapointment back in 1995, despite a few good action scenes and a sense of humor. The film is Written by Andy & Larry Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy) and Brian Helgeland (A Knight`s Tale). It`s worth a look. Grade:B.
Rating: 
Summary: Assassins - ANTONIO BANDERAS ROCKS!
Review: Antonio Banderas was just amazing in this film. He is either an extremely great actor or this is his real-life character! Superbly played. The character performance played by the other actors was good, but not good enough to compare to Antonio's great play.
I saw this film last night and due to my great admiration I had a dream that there was a shoot out at my home, and I was armed with this silenced 9mm, just like the one Antonio and Sylvester use in the movie! I remember I kept loading these clips (that they also used in the movie) and shooting, but dreams as they are, the clips sometimes wouldn't work properly, and I would fire, and it would get jammed. I remember hitting a guy, but I had to keep going back to my room to get another clip as I was running low on bullets! What is this, a film review or a dream review!! Ah, who cares! There are hundreds of boring reviews out there; here is something a little different!
Anyway, back to the film.
As I really grew close to Antonio's character, I really wanted him to succeed! Of course thanks to the way movies are made these days (and all-days!), the "bad guy" has to lose.
What do I like about Antonio's character, Miguel Bain?
His way of speaking and his voice is amazing to boost his character.
He is a young man, aged in his early to late twenties, unlike his opponent, aged somewhere in his late 30's to early 40's, he actually calls him "kid" a number of times!
He is hardly a child when it comes to his job (an assassinator), he is extremely professional, and I don't think I can over emphasize this point! The young man wants to be the No.1 contract assassin, but to my view and I think to everyone else's who has seen the movie, he is already No.1. He is a more advanced young assassin than his opponent. The other assassin played by Sylvester Stallone never intimidated Miguel Bain. He always had his utmost confidence, and played the game to his best. He even admits he chose the wrong hero! I think they both knew that Bain was really No.1. Miguel wanted to make sure his opponent and his new mark is terminated, so he could instantly claim to No.1, even though his mark was planning on retiring anyway! Nonetheless, he wants him dead.
It's the two top assassin versus assassin, though Sylvester's character doesn't really want to kill him, Antonio's character gives him no choice.
Of course there is a lot more to this great store, but that's enough from me, see the film for yourself, or if you have already seen the movie, then why the hell are you reading these reviews! :)
Rating: 
Summary: Too bad Walter Hill didn't get a hold of this one...
Review: ASSASSINS is essentially an updating of a well-established story line. Robert Rath (Stallone) is the best in the world at what he does--killing people for money. But he's getting tired of it all and wants out of the business. Unfortunately, you can't just give two weeks notice to your faceless hit contractor; it's a bit more difficult than that. So it's understandable that Rath barely flinches when he finds out Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas), the #2 assassin, is after him. Stallone, fresh from the 'not-as-bad-as-you've-heard', box-office flop Judge Dredd, takes on a much quieter role here than usual. Antonio Banderas gives the movie's stand-out performance: Evil and wickedly funny, Banderas just about explodes with energy whenever he appears. Other pluses include the handsome cinematography by Vilmos Zsigmond and the mood-setting score from composer Mark Mancina, both of which clearly draw their inspiration from various noir influences. In fact, the whole movie has an almost neo-noir feel to it. Unfortunately, Donner simply doesn't have the necessary edge to pull off the picture's darker moments. Too bad Walter Hill didn't get a hold of this movie instead of Donner. Interesting enough, despite the obvious anti-NRA propaganda the Left-wing Richard Donner uses in this film, this is a story about people who's lives depend on their knowledge and skill with guns. The DVD itself comes in both full-screen and widescreen anamorphic formats. Great picture, good sound. No extras to speak of aside from the standard chapter stops.
Rating:
Summary: Shooting Gallery
Review: Assassins may have sounded like a good idea on paper. Coming from a reliable action director and a trio of upstart screenwriters--it could have been a very cool film. Instead though. things get messy, due to a former rising star in need of yet another career boost and a jittery second banana
Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone)is an aging professional assassin who was once at the top of his game--now looking to get out of that line of work. Someone has other ideas. Not only must he protect Electra (Julianne Moore), a lovely computer hacker, stalked by the baddies. But Rath also becomes prey for Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas) an up-and-coming protege, mirroring the hit-man's own ascension fifteen years earlier.
Having helmed the Lethal Weapon series of movies, Superman, The Goonies, and The Omen, Richard Donner knows a thing or two about how to stage excitng sequences and blow stuff up in fine fashion. And those scenes in the film do work out quite well. The script from future L.A. Confidential scribe Brian Helgeland, as well as Larry and Andy Wachowski, the team responsible for Bound and The Matrix concepts can seem a little worn at times...But the main problem I have here is Stallone and Banderas. At no time did I buy these two men were the best in their field. If you are supposed to be an assassin, you're supposed to be cool right? Not bouncing off the wall as Banderas is, psychotic or not overacting not required. Stallone's played the down and out hero before. He could do this caracter in his sleep--and probably did just that. Neither man could work up to Moore's level. I didn't care who surrvived the gunfights and that posed a serious issue. I had no one to root for.
The DVD's only extra comes in the form of static production notes. A few words from Donner could have helped out a bit ala an audio commentary. Viewers can watch the film in either the widescreen or full frame formats.
Assasins is watchable I suppose, I just wish Donner had chosen better folks to play the leads, things may have turned out better.
Rating:
Summary: Best Movie Of The Last Millenium!
Review: Every 1,000 years a movie comes out that you just have to see, and when you do you have to watch it over and over and over again because of its excellent acting and awesome plot! Assassins is easily in the ranks, if not above, of movies like Bruce Willis' 'The Jackal". Another Assassin movie that is a must see if not to own. But the Assassins has a sort of AHH to it that you can't get from any other movie, Assassination Gun-Slinging or not! Beautifully crafted and well put together, the Assassins, is the move of the Millenium.
Rating: 
Summary: Wasted talents...
Review: Face the truth: this movie jus didn't take off at all. The plot idea was good, but the stupidity of the scenes are disgusting.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad!
Review: How can you say too much bad about a Stallone and Banderas film with lots of action and guns. It could be a little tighter, and it could have a little less space between the scenes, but everybody looks so good and there are lots of guns. If you only like sappy love stories with no action and no guns, don't buy this film.
Rating:
Summary: Not Bad!
Review: How can you say too much bad about a Stallone and Banderas film with lots of action and guns. It could be a little tighter, and it could have a little less space between the scenes, but everybody looks so good and there are lots of guns. If you only like sappy love stories with no action and no guns, don't buy this film.
|
