Huievest Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

namsohanta I love martial arts movies. Always have. And there are some great ones out there: Hero, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, House of Flying Daggers etc The Assassin can not in any way be classed as a great movie - only because of the ridiculous slow pace. There's slow, and then there's this. It's cringeworthy how slow it is in places. I even, on occasion, counted the number of seconds when nothing happens and it came to 5-10 seconds, when nothing, literally nothing happens. The viewer is left frustrated. I can understand that a slow pace is common in 'arthouse' movies, but even then there is usually something happening even if there is no dialogue. Frustrating, pointless, and an empty experience. Watch something else...

johnmgroves-51656 The director has created a spectacular view of China and the sets,costumes and actors contribute magnificently to the overall effect. The story-line is inventive and intriguing mixing macro politics with family infighting. The only sour note is that the editing has made the viewer unlikely to understand what is going on. Whole sections of film have hit the cutting room floor resulting in some characters appearing and disappearing without explanation.It is saved in no small part by the cinematography and lighting. The set decorations and costume design are masterful and create a brilliant counterpoint to the landscape.

nicholls_les I think the title is misleading and should be changed to overly arty piece of nonsense because that would better reflect the experience of trying to watch this without sleeping.The story is pretty much impossible to follow and jumps around to much.It is rare that I get fed up with watching a movie so early on but this one is so dull. Beautiful scenery but almost every boring scene is lingered on for ages.The action is sparse and not very well choreographed, in fact the fight sequences are themselves pretty dull and overly arty.It is hard to find anything positive to say about this movie and I am puzzled over those who gave it a good review.

Tweetienator The good thing first: the cinematography is top notch. Also I liked the atmosphere of the movie - it is almost a meditation. The movie could have been a masterpiece but I must confess, I as a Westerner had my troubles with the story itself - if I compare the drama of this movie (and a drama it is in my opinion) with something like Hamlet etc. this story is just - meh. So imo the Assassin is a real nice eye-candy but lacks of a real good and substantial plot. Recommended for connoisseurs of cinematographic wonders and/or someone who is interested in Chinese history/culture. For someone who likes action/martial arts etc. this movie is no good - yes, there are some good fights but they take just a couple of minutes of the whole movie. All in all watching The Assassin was an ambivalent experience for me - for the cinematography I rate this flick 9, for its story/plot 4. Overall a 6 for me.