Reign of Assassins
Reign of Assassins
NR | 01 September 2010 (USA)
Reign of Assassins Trailers

Set in ancient China, Zeng Jing is a skilled assassin who finds herself in possession of a mystical Buddhist monk's remains. She begins a quest to return the remains to its rightful resting place, and thus places herself in mortal danger because a team of assassins is in a deadly pursuit to possess the remains which holds an ancient power-wielding secret.

Reviews
RyothChatty ridiculous rating
GazerRise Fantastic!
Ketrivie It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.
Anssi Vartiainen Reign of Assassins has a few things that elevate it above its wuxia peers. Chief among them its co-director John Woo, probably the most known Hong Kong action director of all time. And it shows. It is a beautiful film visually. The action scenes are lush, filled with detail, beautifully choreographed and easy to follow. The film is overall very well made from the technical point of view, including costuming, camera-work, et cetera.It also has Michelle Yeoh in the lead role, which is always a huge plus in my books. So why the relatively low rating? Well... it's been some weeks after I saw it, and I'm honestly struggling to remember the plot at all. Reading the plot summary helped, but the details still don't come. Which is strange, because the plot actually has some cool ideas and twists. But like with some other John Woo films, it honestly feels like the movie is going through motions, not really trying. There's no passion to it, no real originality aside from its technical quality.Or perhaps I just wasn't in the right mood to see a film that particular evening. Nevertheless, it's a movie worth seeing if you've liked Woo's other efforts or you're a fan of Yeoh. Or if you're just a wuxia fan, honestly. It's not the best example of the genre you've likely seen, but it has enough good things in it to please.
gpnsh The movie is simply awful. Hey, I understand that this genre supports people flying and other crazy things, but there are good movies in the genre out there. This one is just an embarrassment, probably one of the worst movies I've ever watched. The plot is too straightforward, no logic in people's actions, conversations are ridiculous. I mean, they hunt for some guy's remains, hide their identities, and at the same time discuss how it is better to air-dry noodles on a roof or how some powers will help a castrated guy grow his penis back! WTF??? I can imagine how much actors laughed while trying to say these things on camera with a serious face. Anyway, please spend your life on better things, cause this is garbage.
thomvic Michelle Yeoh surely is the queen of the action genre - and when watching this movie you won't have any doubts as to why she is.Many people will be quick to compare this film to previous wu xia or martial arts films - Crouching Tiger for one - which is one of my favourite films of all time. While I don't think it is better than CTHD, all these films are essentially different films with different stories and characters so it really depends on what you like in a film - hence I don't believe in the 'greatest film of all time' - it's up to you after all.But I had a good time with this. I have to admit I thought there were too many characters and I got a bit confused as I was trying to keep up with who was who and all, but it is essentially a fun story about a group of assassins who are after the main gal (Yeoh) who wants to lead a normal life instead of one full of constant bloodshed. While this has elements of typical revenge elements, the film also has a sense of humour with some comedic moments, fantasy, romance and great fighting scenes.However, I felt the film didn't have a consistent tone so it sort of switched too much for my liking. Was it trying to be a serious film about warriors hardships and their quest to feel human? That's what I thought it was then it sort of changed its tone to melodramatic which sometimes didn't work properly then to cheesy comedy. I think they put a lot into it.Nevertheless, all the actors in here give a pretty good performance and Yeoh pulls it off with her physical abilities not to mention her charisma. The ending however, felt underdeveloped as I couldn't believe that is how it was with the guy and his attitude (that's all I'm saying - it changed very quickly!) That being all said, it is a well done film and certainly an enjoyable martial arts film that is probably more suited to those who didn't like the elusive emotions in CTHD (but I did) and hey, I don't mind a no brainer flick if it is done well - and this certainly is!
faulekatze Seriously I have not watched a martial art film that really touched me in a long time.This movie is solid, very well made, not over exaggerating and pretentious like a lot of other Hong Kong martial art movies which I really appreciate. Storyline was smooth and fairly easy to follow, although there were a couple of plots which did not really make sense, but they could easily be overlooked. Most of the actors and actresses were at their best in my opinion, and the love story between the main characters was also believable. All in all this is a movie worth watching, I would watch it a second time.
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