Review of Assassins (1995) by Prentis M — 05 Aug 2006

Really enjoyed this movie as it strongly focused on the typical things needed for a "action/guy" movie. Its plot was simplistic and never tried to be something that it wasn't. It gave its characters a bit more of an edge, as from the begining we see Stallone as the "hit man" who carries a burden of guilt after killing his friend years ago. Great fight and action sequences and the cat and mouse spin between Banderas and Stallone who are after the same hit: Julianne Moore.

Then it all crashes and burns, and everything the movie was working to accomplish is destroyed; The script get gradually worse. Banderas' over-acting becomes farcicial. Then the movie adds a pretty obvious and unnecessary twist -Stallones boss is actually his dead friend. This causes a change in the main characters, something both actors have spent the entire movie establishing, as they team up to just shoot him at point blank range. Banderas' then attempts another attack to be "number one"... ughh. The audience is seriously taken for granted! ... Just when it was all going so well. For the majority of the ending Moore has an expression like a dead fish... and can we blame her? Great stuff until the tacky stabbed on 15 minutes towards the end, but what can you expect from the director of the Lethal Weapon movies... Look how they turned out.