Four Assassins (2011) User Reviews

Prepare for a dangerous dinner in Four Assassins

[rgblakey · 5/10 · 18 February 2013]

Action films come along all the time, but sometimes the cover or poster art to the release is a bit deceptive. While it is the selling point and they clearly want it to be eye catching and interesting, it can also hurt a film if it doesn't live up to expectations. Four Assassins is one such film that leads you to prepare for an action heavy film, but delivers something completely different, but does it work?

Four Assassins follows four assassins that meet up in a Hong Kong hotel room to resolve unfinished business. As the night progresses secrets and the truth is slowly revealed that affects them all and all in the name of love. The story here is fairly simple and for all intents and purposes should not work at all, but somehow does. Most of this is thanks to the cast featuring the always good Will Yun Lee and Miguel Ferrer taking the lead. The film features some decent action, but is more about the character study than anything else. The structure is very Tarantinoish focusing on the dialogue as opposed to the action to keep this film moving forward as well as using flashbacks to learn more about their past. While at first it is a bit of a letdown with the lack of action, the well written dialogue ends up making for an unexpected film that works. While it doesn't break any ground it still steps out of the normal forgettable action fare and ends up delivering a smart thought provoking story. Have no fear, there is some action here and while it's not much it is well done.

This film is heavy on the dialogue, but keeps things interesting enough to keep the viewer from losing interest. Think Reservoir Dogs and change out the bank robbers with assassins and you have the vibe of this film. Lee has everything needed to carry this movie and does a great job. The rest of the cast do a fine job, but the only down side may be the misleading box art. Hopefully people will give this film more of a chance and watch it for what it is as opposed to what it appears to be.

Too slow

[BingBangBoom · 1/10 · 15 September 2012]

First 10 minutes gave me hope that it might get good, but it didn't. There is very little action, lots of pointless talking. It feels like this entire movie could have been a very short story, or a monologue.

Reason I started watching it in the first place is because it has several actors which I normally like. Acting is OK, problem is that situations are not believable, but rather pointless, and I was not made to care for any of characters.

I cant even recommend this movie as something to watch when you have nothing better to do. Instead, go outside, sit on grass, watch grass grow and meditate. Whatever you think about during it will be very likely more entertaining than this movie.

Atrocious

[DrtyBlvd · 1/10 · 16 September 2012]

...in every way.

Script, acting, fight scenes, set design - accents - you name it, it's absolutely terrible.

Not worth your time. Or theirs.

More interestingly, a review here on IMDb has to be ten lines in length, or it cannot be posted - but there genuinely isn't ten lines of criticism worth leveling at this film.

In part, that is one of the problems the film has as well - *it could have been done in less than ten lines* - there aren't many films brave enough or strong enough to carry off the 'four protagonists in one room for the entire film' scenario - and this one shouldn't have attempted it.

Sometimes slightly shaky acting, and when you start thinking "Drawn out.", it will start increasing the drawn-out-ness.

[c0mM3n14ry · 3/10 · 3 February 2015]

My main gripe really is the timing, which seemed to get worse and worse the closer to the end it got. It also felt a bit like they were trying to imitate formulas they had seen in other movies, not to say "It's pretentious", which would be a bit too much. The story is OK but not remarkable, I'd even almost say "forgettable". The (very very rare) action is OK, nothing remarkable.

If I'd HAVE TO say either "watch" or "don't watch", I'd immediately say "don't watch", but I don't mean to say that the movie is awful. There are just so many better things to spend 80 (long-ass) minutes with. OK, I seem to need about 10 words more for this to pass.

A tense drama

[TYin · 10/10 · 21 September 2012]

Contrary to some of the user reviews, this is actually a worthwhile, claustrophobic drama. If you're expecting a "bang-bang-guns-ablazing-shoot'em up" as suggested by the title -- look elsewhere.

But if you're into a character study of four killers examining how they got to where they are while dealing with an unfinished hit, then this is for you. Yes, it takes it's time. But it's a rewarding slow build to a tense climax.

Will Yun Lee and Miguel Ferrer are stand-outs in a well-rounded cast. The movie's few action sequences are expertly choreographed and executed with style. Camera work is inventive given that the majority of the story takes place in one location. Even the music is impressive.

All in all, this is a classy indie movie.

More dialogue and sitting around than actual assassinations...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 5 August 2013]

I must admit that I had initially expected a bit more action from this movie, given the DVD cover for it. However, that being said, I am not saying that this is a bad movie, as it was actually quite interesting.

Just be warned, that this is not a high-octane action movie that is full of adrenaline and rush. No, this is a heavy dialogue-driven story with some very detailed characters. So it might just be a whole other thing than what you ventured in to watch.

The story in "Four Assassins" is about an assassin named Marcus (played by Will Yun Lee) who sits in a hotel room in Hong Kong when three other assassins show up; Eli (played by Miguel Ferrer), Cordelia (played by Mercedes Renard) and Chase (played by Oliver Williams). The latter three are there to make Marcus pay for a job that he botched up and failed to complete.

As I mentioned earlier, then this movie is heavy on dialogue. And it is essentially just the four main characters sitting around in the hotel room and talking, though with some reminiscing towards their past. But still, it was an interesting movie, as the chemistry and the dialogue was good and well planned.

There is a little bit of action here and there, sort of comes in small bursts of adrenaline throughout the movie, and it is just enough to keep the movie interesting and dynamic.

The four people on the cast list for the main characters, actually did good jobs with their given characters, especially Miguel Ferrer, who was overshadowing everyone else here.

"Four Assassins" is not your typical action movie, but it blends in elements from the thriller and drama genre as well, and the end result is a rather good one - an enjoyable movie well worth watching.

A Stylish Thriller

[Foldees · 9/10 · 17 September 2012]

A rather stylishly shot action drama, 4 Assassins sees a quartet of killers meet in a swanky Hong Hotel room. They are there to discuss a hit that seemingly went wrong: two people were to be killed but only one body was found. The assassin in question is Marcus (Yun Lee) who swears there were two bodies and he terminated both targets. His partners in crime, however, do not believe him. There is old friend and mentor Eli (Ferrer) who despite caring a lot for Marcus knows he is lying and knows that Marcus is no longer a reliable killer. Then there is Cordelia (Renard), Marcus' old flame and a ruthless killer herself and who also sees that Marcus has become weak. Rounding out the foursome is Chase (Williams) who is really only there to be annoying, British (so therefore, annoying!) and to provide tension within in the group as all he would really like to do is shoot Marcus in the head. So the four squabble, reminisce, have dinner and wait for the inevitable phone call signalling it is time to terminate Marcus.

4 Assassins might, unfortunately, be light on the action but it is still a satisfying little drama about killers contemplating their profession and coming to terms with the fact they have to kill one of their own. Despite the absence of copious action and the confined setting, the film never drags and tension is built quite nicely even if the climax if fairly predictable. The dialogue isn't always quite as sharp and clever as the makers would like to think it is but the cast share genuine chemistry: especially Ferrer and Yun Lee who really feel like old friends and infuse their characters with actual personality. Now, the set up might not sound like the most appealing (a group of contract killers stuck in a hotel room chatting and having dinner) but, as mentioned, tension is built well and the film benefits from some striking photography. Frequent flashbacks are also included as the four discuss previous missions and we get to see them at work: these scenes also feature much of the, limited, action.

There are a couple of nice hand-to-hand combat scenes including a somewhat brutal scene that sees Cordelia taking a beating on her first assignment, a silly sequence involving a car in Wales of all places (!!) and the requisite amount of silencer based gun action. It would have been nice to have a bit more action or at least another fight scene but 4 Assassins still works thanks to the likable cast and stylish production design. It's certainly a B-movie that is classier than you might first think and it's always good to see the much-underrated Miguel (Robocop) Ferrer getting a nice meaty part.

Not Bad.