Assassin arrives on VOD and Digital on April 17 from Omnibus Entertainment.
Zhou Jiuquin’s latest period spy thriller, Assassin, comes with all the trimmings if you love a Chinese action flick fresh out of the mainland. The cast is solid and with a script by Lin Huang that doles out the beats fairly well between the action and drama and some of the comedy beats in between.
Set in 1932 in Shanghai, we follow the exploits of a covert team of anti-Japanese rebels as they operate swiftly to take out targets in line with liberating China as the Sino-Japanese war looms. When the leader, Zhang Mubai (Wang Ming) is recruited by Qing Gang leader Hu Ba (Ray Lui) to assassinate a military commander the week of his son’s wedding, what follows is a fast-paced tale of espionage and intrigue with a twist that raises the stakes even higher.
Assassin rides high plentily on its strengths for most of the way. At a solid 90 minutes, Assassin goes full tilt into the action for the first ten minutes with Wang and co-stars Cheng Qi, Zhang He, and Zhao Zhenhua leading the way as the anti-traitor covert force taking on the Japanese and all their cohorts. The cast is soon joined by Tang Haoyuan who plays the film’s requisite comedy relief, Yuanbao, a costuming swindler and pickpocket who gets roped into the movement, try as he may to weasel his way out at times.
The film tends to square up a lot of its darker aspects through the comedy with its focus on Yuanbao and his feelings for Xiaoqiu (Qi), contributing another useful elememt to the film alongside the even-handed camaraderie between Zhang and his cohorts. The story is mostly tightly-woven, so much so that it never loses track of where it came from or where its headed. Point in fact, the film rewards you simply by staying in its lane with a straight forward actioner, a somewhat twisty story that’s easy to grasp and characters who are palatable and sympathetic enough that you’re not left looking at your clock.
The action sequences are great to watch as well, with the actors making the most of the set. Stylish gun battles are par for the course here with interwoven hand to hand sequences, grappling, crafted by action director Su Guan. Co-star Qi will be an excellent player to watch in this arena as the film’s only female lead on this front, all contributing to a worthwhile action flick in Assassin that hits its mark.
