Not a bad film but not in the same league with the very best in the genre. For that the film builds too much on overblown (Asian) sentimentalism and shock surprises. Many things about this movie are not bad but could be better. For instance, I found the music a bit too cheeky to make this a genuinely stylish and balanced film: at times it was more of the quality of soap opera's, a trap the movie itself sometimes is in danger of falling into as a whole. Nonetheless, I enjoyed watching the movie but only because I love the genre more in general. If you want to see something better, and without resorting to the classics by Zhang Yimou, watch The Banquet, a movie which gets the sort of things right with which this piece is struggling.
Review of The Assassins
