We were waiting for Assassination Games about 8 months, since The Scott Adkins Fanz website has confirmed that the Undisputed 2 and 3 star Scott Adkins signed on board of this movie. But during almost a year we knew that this new action under The Weapon title, but in July Adkins and Van Damme told us via their Twitter account that we can watch watch the trailer to their new movie names Assassination Names. But let’s talk about this actioner.
Plot: Brazil and Roland Flint are the two best assassins in the world-but unknown to each other. While Flint is a master sharpshooter, Brazil is equally skilled with a knife. These two rival assassins form an uneasy alliance to take down the head of a drug cartel, which is backed by the DEA.
All started with a wedding of some Russian Mob daughter where people, who knows Russian language, can be shocked with a word of song playing during this wedding. Words can be translated like “Thief will be stealing and I will be selling…” What? Come on, guys! You really think that Russian wedding can be set up with such a music background?
And on this wedding we can see the professional work of our first world-weary assassin Vincent Brazil played by van Damme. Meanwhile in Ukrain the best of the assassins named Roland Flint nurses his wife who was beatten to pulp by their common future target mob boss Polo Yakur. This a really good chance to see Adkins nails his dramatic talent and does it in a very good way, so I opened him as a really able actor.
Second interesting moment – Flint’s old partner found him in some hidden place and asked to earn some money taking deadly contract. But how did he find him in such a distant place, even I know that best killer can hide very well, even in the city, like Jean Reno did in Luke Besson’s Leon: The Professional.
Talking about Flint’s partner I notice that it is a perfect role for Oleg Taktarov, but for some reason producers hired Kevin Chapman, who looks like Oleg. I think his character is not very developed and could has more time on a screen.
Anyway it is a time when the two elite killers cross paths, but for one it is personal, for another one it is just another small bag of diamonds, but he does not know where this all will bring to.
There is no such a lot of action what gives you a time to look around and notice how van Damme got old and looks a little bit tired, but he gained experience and an intelligent and wisdom expression and I like it. He is handling the drama stuff very good and achieved this degree of success in JCVD movie.
The third bad moment of this movie is DEA agents, what are they doing here is a big question. I suppose if remove this part of the movie out it would not effect anyhow on the script. I understand that they want to silence retired hitman Flint, but probably producers wanted to give more screen time to van Damme’s son Kristopher and that’s why we have got 2 agents walking on the screen without any real purpose. A daughter of van Damme Bianca plays Adkins comatose wife.
Talking about fights in this movie, which are only few, I can say they look fine, but do not expect Undisputed 3 style, because it is another movie with different style. Scott Adkins is quick as always and van Damme shows his typical tricks and stances and that’s good, because everybody has his own style and Jean has it for sure, what I can’t say about Adkins for now.
Fight choreography of Assassination Games made by Bulgarian stuntman Stanimir Stamatov who doubled Sylvester Stallone in Expendables (and will be in the sequel for sure), also he worked on Rambo 4, Until Death, Undisputed 2 and other van Damme’s movies made in Bulgaria. Have not heard anything about him only knew that he was born on March 26, 1976 in Haskovo, Bulgaria.
Director of this movie is Ernie Barbarash who made sci-fi action Hardwired with Cuba Gooding Jr. and Val Kilmer and some TV series and movies.
In spite of a lot of holes in the script this movie looks good, not borring, but not full of action. I think it is a good project for Jean-Claude to return watchers interest because his character the most well-developed of the cast, and it is a nice spring-board for Adkins to nail his abilities as an actor.
… this action reminded me the atmosphere of The Contractor movie with Wesley Snipes about ex-CIA agent who was asked to take out a terrorist, only to realize he’s been set up by his former employer.
Recommended to watch.
