Assassin’s Bullet (2012) – Review

Where to watch Assassin’s Bullet

1 Star

The latest output from the recently ultra-prolific Christian Slater, puts him in the hands of gifted action ace director Isaac Florentine. Unfortunately this muddled affair, is missing the style, energy and overall watch ability of nearly any film in Florentine’s movie cannon. Starting things off with a sequence that recalls, the opening of Face/Off, the story shifts gears and eventually settles on Slater’s government agent character, known simply as Robert and some political hits being conducted by an assassin in Bulgaria. While it is typical for a film of this level to take advantage of the incentives involved with a production in Eastern Europe, Assassin’s Bullet is cheap looking even by modest standards. The camera whips and pans, usually accompanied with a ‘whooshing’ affect on the soundtrack, to give the viewer an impression that something, anything is happening during this snoozer.

Almost any episode of the USA television series Nikita is as technically proficient as anything presented to us here. The major asset to the film is the presence of name talents like Slater and Sutherland Sr. in featured roles. Slater had a brief window during the mid-1990s in which he attempted to launch a career resurrection as an action star in a few unmemorable movies. Donald Sutherland, who had been reported to have retired from the screen, makes a brief appearance as Slater’s government buddy, who persuades him to take a look at the Vigilante murder of some key player, slain by an assassin in Sofia, Bulgaria. This is awkwardly shoe-horned in with the psychological therapy session involving a woman with a murderous past, and a laughable romance between Slater and a Bulgarian belly dancer.

The coming attractions trailer for Assassin’s Bullet try to play up the action angle, but there is very little in the way of kinetic style or violence. Instead we are left with a slow moving and uninvolved film, featuring actors who seem as if they would rather be in a warmer climate. As for the usually reliable Isaac Florentine, I can only hope this was work for hire and we can look forward to seeing more of his (better) work in the future. As for Assassin’s Bullet, dodge this slug at all costs.

Director: Isaac Florentine
Stars: Christian Slater, Donald Sutherland, Elika Portnoy, Timothy Spall