Director: Richard Donner
Writers: Andy Wachowski (story), Lana Wachowski (story) (as Larry Wachowski).
Stars: Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Julianne Moore.
Storyline
Robert Rath is a seasoned hitman who just wants out of the business with no back talk. But, as things go, it ain't so easy. A younger, peppier assassin named Bain is having a field day trying to kill said older assassin. Rath teams up with a computer hacker named Electra to defeat the obsessed Bain.
User Reviews:
If you have watched 'The Mechanic', you will certainly see a parallel between that movie & this movie. Both are fast-paced action movies about two assassins in conflict with each other.
'The Mechanic' starred Charles Bronson in the lead role of a veteran contract hit-man, Arthur Bishop. He took on a cocky but ambitious young man, Steve McKenna, played by Jan-Michael Vincent, to be his protégé. The latter turned the table on the master.
In this movie, 'Assassins', Sylvester Stallone played the lead role of a veteran contract hit-man, Robert Bath, who apparently was number one in the business. A cocky, but ambitious young hit-man, Miguel Bain, played by Antonio Banderas, came into the scene with the fatalistic idea of becoming the number one.
Intertwined in their personal conflict of hierarchy, appeared a woman computer hacker, Electra, played by Julianne Moore, as well as a mysterious employer, Nikolai Taslinkov, who seemingly was connected to all the three key characters in the movie.
For the rest of the movie, it was an exciting cat & mouse game between Bath & Bain, with Electra eventually teaming up with Bath to elude from & deal with Bain. The action sequences throughout the movie, especially the shoot-out inside a hotel in the first half & the shoot-out in an abandoned building (in Mexico) towards the end, were really good.
It was quite fun to watch Antonio Banderas playing the hot-headed, crazy guy. He was really good, as good as Sylvester Stallone, who, as typical & in most of his movies of this genre (Nighthawks, Cobra, Judge Dredd, Demolition Man...), played the cool, confident character...maybe, a little stiff in some way. Julianne Moore, a very accomplished British actress, unfortunately had an understated role, although she did her best.
On the whole, 'Assassins' has been an entertaining - never a dull moment - action movie to watch...especially when you can watch two assassins for the price of one!
