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The Assassin | Year: 1993 Classification: Foreign Film - Chinese Directed: - Siu Hung Cheung Decent Kung-Fu Title "The Assassin" isn't any thing to gloat about, but its definately better than you're average kung-fu fair. It has elements of campiness or otherwise bad editing, but it has plenty of character development to help ease that. Some people might think the "villain trying to be good" concept is a bit ho-hum, but I thought this movie treated its main character with enough taste to make it worth your watching. And for what its worth, there are some good fight scenes in this film, along with some classic lines ("You're not a god...just an old man who can be sent to hell!") So if you're in the mood for a little chop suey and you don't know what to pick, why not pick this up? It'll be worth your time. Rent it for the story, not the fights... 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). mediocre chop-sockey flick The cover says more action than Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.<BR>Yeah right, this [stank]. DVD quality bad, special effects [stink], and the swordplay [stink]. My advise, overlook this one and get some Bridgette Lin flicks. The renegade lives! Buy The Assassin at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on The Assassin Search with the Priority Search Engine on The Assassin This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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