Review of Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball (2010) by Jason D — 25 Jan 2010

With Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball, I had MAJOR reservations, understandably. Firstly, the original film did not warrant a sequel, nor a prequel (which is what this is). Secondly, if you're going to make one, why keep the name, which was a play off a character that's not even in this movie (like Van Wilder 2!).

Lastly, this film was directed by P.J. Pesce, who delivered one of THE worst films last year, the unnecessary and far overdue sequel to The Lost Boys. Being the brave soul that I am, I pushed onward and watched anyways.

Smokin' Aces 2 concerns retiring FBI desk jockey Walter Weed (Tom Berenger) who is somehow the target of a 3 Million Dollar hit that has some of the biggest assassins coming after him, namely a Spanish seductress (Martha Higareda), a violent surgeon (played by Vinnie Jones.

..who else?), the mimicker from the original film (Tommy Flanagan...so you know he survives obviously), and more demented members of the psycho Nazi Tremor clan. This new Tremor clan consists of father Michael Parks (great in stuff like the Kill Bills and Grindhouse), C.

Ernst Harth (whom I instantly recognized as the grotesque fat ghost from 13 Ghosts), Maury Sterling (another who obviously survives to show up in the actual Smokin' Aces), and Autumn Reeser (with a nice sex/nude scene).

Locked up behind layers and layers of impenetrable secret bunkers under a jazz bar deep in Chicago, can Weed make it past 3:00 am before these killers rip him a new one? Well, despite this film being far inferior to the original, I surprisingly still liked watching it.

It's loud and annoying in a few parts, and the acting is a far cry from the great cast in the original, but I liked action quite a bit, as well as the assassins. The twist end doesn't pack as much punch as the original film, but for being an unwanted direct to DVD sequel, this manages to be pulled off decently.