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Cast: Miguel Ferrer, Will Yun Lee, Oliver Williams, Mercedes Renard
In the cosmopolitan city of Hong Kong, ace hit-man Marcus Nang was summoned to meet with three professional colleagues. The location? His choice. The reason? To resolve unfinished business. Not knowing who might show up, Marcus checks into a suite at the Sham Shui Guesthouse, an Asian style hotel in a not so glamorous part of town. He waits. The first top arrive is the beautiful Cordelia Leigh, Marcus's former lover and and an equally deadly killer. For Marcus, seeing Cordelia after all these years is a surprise given the circumstance. Their relationship ended badly and Cordelia has not forgiven him. Accompanying Cordelia is Chase Holmes, a young gun from Gibralter, who is eager to make his mark. Eli Stoke, the mentor to Marcus and Cordelia is the last to arrive. A well-weathered gentleman, Eli has been in the business longer than he can remember. It pains him to have to confront Marcus, who looks up to him as a father figure.
Clearly something has gone wrong with the last hit. Eli and Cordelia press Marcus for answers while Chase is ready to kill. Marcus insists he has done what needed to be done. Eli wants to know the real truth. Over an elaborate meal the four highly skilled assassins reminisce about the past and ponder the future. In a tense and highly claustrophobic setting, accusations fly, lines are drawn and secrets revealed. It all culminates to an explosive showdown where no one is safe. "Four Assassins" examines the meaning of love against a violent and brutal backdrop, and ask the ultimate question, what is the price of love.
"4 Assassins" centers on Marcus, a gun for hire, who has been commissioned to kill a husband and his wife. As the film begins, Marcus is awaiting final payment for his services in his hotel room. He is soon joined by his 'assassin' mentor, Eli, his former lover and fellow assassin, Eva, and an upcoming 'newbie' assassin, Chase. There seems to be an issue with the 'hit' that Marcus was hired to do, and the film goes into great, agonizing details of the events which have led these four individuals to arrive at this hotel room, on this night, at this specific time. Eli and the other two assassins have two hours to determine what went wrong and what actually happened during Marcus' hit.
When a film is named "4 Assassins" most expect a it to be filled with plenty of action and killing but this isn't your ordinary assassin film and I am happy to say that I was not only surprised but I was also happy to see something a bit different for a change. As the film starts the 4 assassins meet in the one hotel room. Their reason for being there is a bit of a mystery, slowly pieces of the story are given a little at a time. This is an engaging thriller that draws you into the story and the four main leads breath life into these well developed characters. Each one has their own story to tell and the film doesn't leave any of it out which in turn helps the audience to care about the characters in one way or another. To talk about the plot too much here would only ruin the story for those waiting to see it but I can tell you that the film pretty much takes place in the one room and it is character driven and dialogue heavy. The film demands that you have patience so if you are looking for a no brainer action flick I suggest you look elsewhere because this is a thinking man's thriller with a realistic story and characters.
One thing you need when you have a complex story like this is a cast that can deliver on it's characters and the film definitely has that, Yun Lee (Die Another Day, Hawaii Five-O) is terrific as Marcus and Miguel Ferrer (Traffic, Twin Peaks) is fantastic as always as Eli. Oliver Williams and Mercedes Renard also give excellent performances. Production wise there isn't much to look at since most of the story takes place in the one room but the camera work is great. The action scenes that are in the film are all done very well the the score fits each and every scene perfectly.
The bottom line is I don't think this is going to be an assassin film for everyone. If you want lots of action and excitement you are going to be disappointed but if you're looking for something a bit more intelligent, a film that forces you to think a bit then this is a film for you. I had a great time with this filmed, I enjoyed the mystery, the suspense as well as the characters and the twists and turns a long the way as well.
Released by Inception Media Group
*** 1/2 Out Of *****