The Assassin (1993)

I was impressed of Hong Kong Movies, this film is full of swordplay that will entertain you. Even when the emperor fought with his maidens and he ripped them apart one by one or the torture, when they used a needle to close his eyes and it was hard to watch. This film is great, well the problem is the acting. Max Mok acting was a bit silly but the others were fine. Do you know what bothers me about this movie, is when Rasmond screams like a cat front of his lover. Really, watch it with your family and besides, the movie that were nominated Oscar and Golden are all crap. Even the people have bad taste, don't listen to your grandma or grandpa. You have to choose and don't let anyone stop you. Watch it, its entertaining.

The fighting was dull and unspectacular, the story was likewise rather boring and cliched. The action tries to get by on the sheer force of its violence rather than by exciting, well choreographed sequences. There certainly is a lot of violence, rather graphic in relation to other movies of the genre (many beheadings and dismemberments, and most notably an eye-sewing-shut scene), but it is a VERY poor substitute for good action. I think it's terribly unfortunate that this movie has received full DVD release and The Blade (Dao) (1995) has not, as that movie shared the same form of unnerving violence, but it was much, MUCH better done on every level.

Assassin should be considered another lightweight entry into the dark themed HK swordplay/action genre, like The Blade, Ashes of Time, and the excellent Burning Paradise. The film has a great premise- A country bumpkin and flower lover, Tong Po, falls in love with a girl (Rosamund Kwan) he is not allowed to marry. They try to run away together, but they are captured and he is thrown into a jail where his eyes are sewn shut. Next, his eyes are opened to find himself and some fellow prisoners in a gladiatorial ring where they must kill each other in order to survive, the last man standing gets to live and be trained as an executioner for a power corrupted eunuch. Tong Po wins of course, becomes an adept killing machine, is renamed Tong Chop, and given an apprentice who both idolizes and wants to replace him. During one nighttime raid, Tong sees Rosamund and his past starts creeping back on him, so he leaves the killing business and hides out with her in her village where she has remarried and has a son. But, his old life as a prominent killer is not easily left behind, and both his protégé and the powerful eunuch are out for his blood, leading to the bloody conclusionIt has a great story, pretty good cinematography, and the gore one comes to expect (the eunuch likes to tear his victims in two, and of course the swordplay involves many geysers of blood), but it suffers from poor production values and lack of a charismatic lead. The film has serious `fright wig' syndrome, with some laughable costumes and really bad, uneven, frizzy wigs on Tong Chop and his protégé. With a more substantial budget, design, and casting of a better lead this could have been a great film. It could definitely benefit from being remade.

This film offers plenty: perfectly choreographed swordfights with dozens of men, a nice plot and gore. The fast-paced action sequences are well timed during the film so I have never been bored while watching the movie. Everyone who liked A Chinese Ghost Story should not hesitate and get this film. One last word to the gore hounds: Though there are lots of amputations, everything happens so fast that you hardly have time to watch it, but don't cry: there is a scene where a man gets his eyes sewn and it is shown very explicit. Overall this film is worth a 9/10.