leonblackwood Review: This us another one of those confusing Oriental movies that are hard to follow but the main concept is quite simple, everyone wants to murder Cao Cao (Chow Yun-Fat). There's also a love story running throughout the movie which is pretty straight forward but the rest of the storyline, went straight over my head. When the true reason, why Cao Cao is so evil, is revealed, I honestly didn't understand what the movie was truly about but it scores top marks for authenticity and cinematography, like many of the other Oriental movies I have watched lately. The costumes are truly amazing, especially Cao Cao's detailed armour and I'm happy to say that the DVD carries a dubbed version, so you don't have to worry about annoying subtitles. The action scenes were also impressive because they seemed real for that day and age but I really don't know why the director had to over complicate the storyline. Anyway, it's a watchable film, mainly for the great performance from Yun-Fat and the fear that he put in the people around him but the ending was a right mess. Watchable! Round-Up: This is the only movie directed by Linshan Zhao so it's hard to compare her other projects to this one but the writer, Bin Wang, also wrote House of Flying Daggers and Hero with Jet Li. I'm beginning to realise that a lot of these Oriental directors, certainly like to over complicate there movies with pointless detail which is, usually unnecessary. Maybe it's because I'm used to basic concepts from the Western market, why I'm finding it hard to get to grips with the these detailed story lines and I must admit, my mind does switch off once I have to read subtitles and try and keep up with movies. Anyway, I was expecting this to be an action movie, with a name like the Assassin's but it turned out to be an intense drama which I'm am in two minds about.I recommend this movie to people who are into their history/drama starring Chow Yun-Fat, Yifei Liu, Xinyi Zhang and Hiroshi Tamaki. 5/10

Paul Magne Haakonsen If you enjoy the Chinese period epic drama for the battle and martial arts, then "The Assassins" (aka "Tong que tai") is not something for you. But if you enjoy the period dramas for the deeper storytelling then you will definitely enjoy this movie.For me, it was a growing difficulty to sit through this movie, because I enjoy the epics with mass battles, which hardly wasn't in this particular movie. "The Assassins" is driven by its storyline and its brilliant performances put on by an impressive cast.Speaking of the cast, then Chow Yun Fat really did shine well in this movie, and it is great to see him in the period drama genre movies. But also Yifei Liu stood out in this movie as she does in just about everything she stars in.The sets, wardrobes and props were amazing for the movie. I really did enjoy the garments and armors shown and used in "The Assassins". There were so many details and fine touches everywhere.Although a bit too slow-paced for my liking, there still is something astounding to be said about this movie.

ghent1 Not a bad film but not in the same league with the very best in the genre. For that the film builds too much on overblown (Asian) sentimentalism and shock surprises. Many things about this movie are not bad but could be better. For instance, I found the music a bit too cheeky to make this a genuinely stylish and balanced film: at times it was more of the quality of soap opera's, a trap the movie itself sometimes is in danger of falling into as a whole. Nonetheless, I enjoyed watching the movie but only because I love the genre more in general. If you want to see something better, and without resorting to the classics by Zhang Yimou, watch The Banquet, a movie which gets the sort of things right with which this piece is struggling.

Filmsploitation The Film Podcast The Review: The Assassins tells the tale of Chancellor Cao Cao (Chow Yun Fat), who in the early stages of the Chinese Han Dynasty mercilessly defeated China's greatest warlord and crowned himself King of Wei. Twenty years pass and Cao Cao's son urges his father to overturn the despot Emperor and snatch total control for himself unaware that the children of Cao Cao's victims have been kidnapped and trained as assassins to take their bloody revenge.On the face of it, The Assassins looks like it is in the same vein as Crouching Tiger, House of Flying Daggers and Red Cliff; it cannot be further removed from these classics if it tried. My main issue with the film is that it is extremely difficult to follow as there are so many flashbacks and cutaways, poor editing also contributes to a linear shambles of a film.Chow Yun Fat has slowed down in the past dozen or so years and seems to be quite picky about what he stars in as it looks like he is trying to re-invent himself somewhat by appearing in historical films, Crouching Tiger aside, he has made the wrong decision.I was waiting to see beautiful opulent visuals and stunning scenery, sweeping camera shots, seasonal changes, fantastic wire work and a sweeping love story at its core, sadly, this failed on all counts. The action, when it comes shows nothing more than close ups of 3 or 4 people fighting instead of thousands, the scenery (what there is of it) is cold and barren (like Chow Yun Fat's performance) one on one swordplay is badly choreographed and sped up to a ridiculous degree in that I thought that the disk was skipping in my player!Do not go into this expecting a visual feast of a film interspersed with frenetic swordplay, at most this is a slow burning political drama with a love story badly tacked on, in short this is a contrived, confusing, boring film that looks as tired as Chow Yun Fat's career.Reviewed By: Matt DuddyTHE ASSASSINS is out on home release now. Join the debate on our Facebook group… http://www.facebook.com/groups/filmsploitationpodcast/For more check out www.thefilmpodcast.co.uk