Assassins (1995)

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Assassins (1995)

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It's sort of amusing; Sylvester Stallone has made a career for himself as an action hero, making similar movies which often get criticised for being dumb, cheesy and trading on his physique. Yet in "Assassins" we have a different sort of Stallone movie, more of a standard thriller which doesn't rely on Stallone delivering those trademarks and it feels wrong, seriously wrong. Stallone comes across as quite dull and in a movie which not only struggles to create tension but also drags on makes for a less than spectacular way to spend over 2 hours.

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Assassins (1995)

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Having risen to the top of his game, professional assassin Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone - Lock Up) is growing tired of the job and is ready to retire. But before he does he needs to do a couple more jobs which end up leading him to Electra (Julianne Moore - Boogie Nights) a surveillance expert who becomes his next mark. Electra is not the only person he comes across as Robert also becomes aware of Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas - Desperado) a new assassin who wants to be the best and it doesn't take before he realises that for some reason he is being set up. Along with Electra they go on the run with Miguel following planning to assassinate Robert in the same way Robert had assassinated his friend another assassin many years earlier.

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Assassins (1995)

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The storyline to "Assassins" is in fact not a bad idea. The best assassin coming towards the end of his career finds himself being set up and tracked down by a younger assassin who wants his crown. Nice idea and the elements which are weaved in such as surveillance specialist Electra who becomes a mark adds a nice touch. Except that the excitement of this storyline, the edge of your seat excitement is lacking making it seem completely dull. It almost plods along, pepped up by a couple of nicely crafted action sequences before it finally finishes after nearly 2 hours getting to the big climax, the expected face off between number one assassin Robert and Miguel who wants his crown.

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Assassins (1995)

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What doesn't help is that at times writers Andy and Lana Wachowski, they of "The Matrix" fame, try to be too clever delivering set pieces before following them up with a lack lustre twist. And when it comes to a twist which isn't lacklustre it's so contrived it's laughable. The tense atmosphere is lost because of this and it doesn't help that director Richard Donner doesn't seem sure how to handle them. It makes for an uneven, unmemorable movie which really struggles to grab your attention as it almost has a feeling of one false ending after another.

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Assassins (1995)

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Where "Assassins" does come together is when director Richard Donner gets to deliver a few moments of action. Wonderfully choreographed, full of pace and style these few moments are the only things which make you sit up and pay attention. As you would expect with 2 assassins after one another there are some nice gun battles and stand offs, especially a memorable scene in a taxi cab which culminates with a brilliant chase scene and Miguel played by Antonio Banderas nearly getting wiped out by a side of a bus. But even though these moments of action work, they are not enough to make "Assassins" in honesty any better.

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Assassins (1995)

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And the same can be said of the whole mix of subtle comedy and ingenuity. There is a nice scene where Electra uses a remote control dumper truck to get some money; it's clever and also slightly amusing. But again it's just one semi decent scene in a movie which is short of them, with many of them failing to achieve the payoff they set out to, such as the whole cat thing between Electra and Robert, it just doesn't really add anything to the movie.

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Assassins (1995)

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As for the performances well they are a very mixed bunch. Stallone who obviously goes for restrained as the silent number 1 assassin almost feels uncomfortable in a movie which relies on him to look serious. He gets a few action moments but there are none of his trademarks and as such it actually feels wrong despite actually doing a reasonable job of delivering a decent sort of character. Alongside him is Julianne Moore as Electra and for the first half of the movie she does quite well as she manages to deliver a sort of sense of fear and confusion. The trouble is that as the movie spirals towards the expected big climax her character traits are thrown out of the window leaving Moore to deliver an over the top almost absurd performance.

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Assassins (1995)

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The most memorable thing about "Assassins" ends up being Antonio Banderas as assassin Miguel Bain, not that it is Banderas's best performances. In fact Miguel is very much an over the top character, dramatically impatient, maniacal bordering on the comical psychotic. As such it's not a believable character but with Banderas's Latino appeal makes for great fun especially in various action scenes which are slightly reminiscent to his performance in "Desperado".

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Assassins (1995)

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What this all boils down to is that "Assassins" is a very mixed up movie. It's trying to be an action thriller, but the thriller part of it never works and some of the action fails to come together. The performances don't really help and with Stallone trying to shed his trademarks makes it feel plainly wrong. But at over 2 hours it feels over long and seems to drag till you get the expected big climax, which in itself is drawn out.