User reviews

Bruce Willis only has some 20 minutes of screentime. He does act well. But the rest of this movie is a big flop.

The bad: this story is nonsensical gibbledigook ridiculous. Dont even try to understand it (although I did try), it wont matter.

More bad: there are lots of B-movie actors starring, that aint terrible, but completely lacking in charisma.

It's a proven tactic to put Bruce Willis' his face on the poster, so this movie will garner some attention or even sell some tickets to folks (mistakingly) expecting to see a Bruce Willis movie. Which it is not.

Not any good? I have seen ALL of Bruce Willis' movies, even the many lesser ones, but this one does compete for the prize of one of the worst movies Willis has ever starred in.

This was a multi genre mess, listed as a combination of Action, Crime, Thriller with Sci-fi. The action was cheesy, the crime was lame, there were no thrills, and an automotive disc brake, a laptop, and a bathtub may be the funniest and cheapest props ever used in the history of filmmaking to pass off as sci-fi. They may as well have used an empty shipping box and drawn-on dials with a magic-marker.

The directing - especially cast direction, was horrible, but the writing was even worse, with ideas taken from many other films that were all done much better. The story was dull, lazy, convoluted and riddled with plot and technical issues. It full of eye-rolls and cringeworthy moments, and the normally comfortable 88 min runtime dragged on endlessly with the slow pacing and lame narrative.

A Military outfit creates a technologically advanced chip that allows a user to take over their subject, mentally and physically, allowing them to kill their subjects and leave no trace of who's behind it.

Great idea, woeful execution, I stuck this film out through to the bitter end, and wish I hadn't, this was an absolute chore to get through, rather to endure.

I couldn't get into it, it's like they pulled the rug from under our feet, stuff was happening and I didn't have a clue why, it took so long to settle and explain, but by then this poor excuse for a sci fi thriller had lost me.

How sad to think that this was the final film for Bruce Willis, think of the many wonderful movies he's delivered, sadly this is one for fans of his to forget. He's good, but sadly doesn't get much screen time.

If I ever hear 'this is not my body again' I will scream.

One to avoid.

3/10.

Alexa (Nomzamo Mbatha) is angry that her drone pilot husband is somehow in a coma after a mission. Valmora (Bruce Willis) reveals that he leads a secret experimental program which commandeers unsuspecting victims and turning them into assassins. They are being hunted by a rival group with the same tech. Alexa has to take the place of her husband in order to take down Adrian (Dominic Purcell).

Apparently, this is the last Bruce Willis film. The character isn't doing much other than be the mercurial boss. The camera is able to fake it well enough. The idea is fine sci-fi material. The execution could be better and it fades over time. It's a B-movie of limited ability. It's actually better than I expected, but that's not saying much.

This movie is a disappointing, bewildering experience that left me scratching my head. The film's plot is an incomprehensible tangle, and its characters are so poorly developed that it's difficult to invest any emotion in their outcomes. Simply put, Willis' latest effort is a chaotic, unwatchable mess.

The movie aims to weave a complex narrative, but it fails spectacularly. The plot is so convoluted and disjointed that following it feels like trying to put together a thousand-piece puzzle with no picture on the box.

Bruce Willis, whose acting chops are usually a saving grace in even the most lackluster of films, appears to be phoning it in here. His performance is wooden and uninspired, making it impossible to become invested in his character's journey. The rest of the cast doesn't fare much better, as the underdeveloped characters are mere caricatures rather than fully realized individuals.

The dialogue is clunky and full of clichés, and it does little to clarify the convoluted plot. The characters' motivations remain murky at best, and it's hard to care about their fates when they're so poorly fleshed out. The film's pacing is another issue, as it lurches from one confusing scene to another, never giving the audience a chance to catch their breath or make sense of the chaos unfolding on screen.

In the end, Assassin is a frustrating and disorienting experience that fails to deliver any semblance of a coherent story or engaging characters. It's a sad addition to Bruce Willis' filmography and one that's best left forgotten. If you're looking for a thrilling action movie, look elsewhere - this one misses the mark by a long shot.

Jesse Atlas' Assassin is a movie that, sadly, only stands out for being the last film in which Bruce Willis appears on screen, as the actor has been struggling with aphasia and is no longer able to act convincingly. Despite the questionable ethics of Willis continuing to act in low-budget action films in this condition, the truth is that these movies are generally terrible, even if Willis were still in his prime. In his later career, Willis is reduced to standing around and delivering stilted dialogue, with the action sequences being equally uninspired and bland. Assassin tries to do things differently by using Willis as a minor supporting character and centering the story on Andy Allo's Mali, a Cameroonian-born singer and actress who tries to recover game-changing military technology from career criminal Adrian (played by Dominic Purcell). Unfortunately, the movie is a mess that doesn't even attempt to break any of its own sci-fi rules, failing to explain anything about how the military personnel in the film are able to take over some people's bodies but not others. It's also unclear why they can't just get close enough to the people they need to take over to find the device themselves, and why they need to go through the trouble of taking over someone else's consciousness. Overall, Assassin is a forgettable and dumb movie, and despite Willis' unfortunate situation, it's hard to recommend it. While the Die Hard movies serve as a reminder of Willis' past excellence, this movie is a sad end to a once-great acting career.

Assassin is the last Bruce Willis movie sadly due to his aphasia and dementia. A sad way to end his career. This is a confused, sloppy and poorly directed film about private operation led by Bruce Willis that puts bug like microchips in people and by using an assassin host (Nomzamo Mbatha) she can poses that person and perform a murder. Her target is Dominic Purcell. Bruce Willis is fine here though hes not given much to do. He mainly just gives order but he does get to shoot a lady in one scene so theres that. Best to remember Bruce for the Die Hard films, Pulp Fiction or The Sixth Sense and not his later career.

Can't believe such a movie was actually thought to be something. This was horrible. I can't even explain it. Nothing was gripping or intense about this movie. Total waste of money and screen time. The acting was just average. To much over dramatization from Alexa. Like really, an ice bath? It's like someone recreating the Matrix but falling short. This is even more sad because this is Willis's last movie. To go out with such a flop is appalling. This was horrible. No way to sugar coat it or give credit. Willis was only good for the marketing I guess. Anyway, we know it's hard these days to make movies because almost every idea has been put out already. But this? This was just nonsensical.

Not gonna bash the film like everyone else so hear me out. Was it the best sci-fi? No. Was it completely original? No.

But I can say that the ending was very good, had an amazing twist and that weird aspect to the very very end of the film before credits.

I love sci-fi and I get tired of the same old plot and plot twists, while this concept was not complexly original (as most films) it did have a lot of concepts I had not seen in modern sci-fi.

The beginning was very dragged out and I felt a lot of it could have been cut on the chopping block honestly. With that said, a lot of it was very crucial for the twist at the end. So I'll give it a bit of grace.

The emotion from the women in this film was riveting and I don't use that word every often lol. It was raw and compelling and I felt for not only the protagonist but also the assistant. She understood how destroying the program was and seeing her show quiet signs of fear and mental struggle was very heart warming and real to me. As someone who cries in private a lot but keeps a brave face on I felt her so much. The protagonist, she is not some bad a super woman, I loved seeing her fail, make mistakes, get her butt beat, lol etc etc. Again realism.

And as stated above I felt the twist at the end was more devistating because it showed that he could have coexisted with Adrian as the girls did. But idk if that would have been cool with Adrian lol.

I really want to go in more depth but I'm trying not to leave spoilers. I'm sorry I'm not the type to EXPECT anything from a film but a good story and some twists and turns. I love sci-fi and short films I prefer over Hollywood and the comments are showing many prefer Hollywood over indie. This film no matter that Bruce Willis was in it felt very indie and I loved that feel. It wasn't riddled with a bunch of bs. Slow start but definitely great middle and bombastic ending.

Jesse Atlas' blandy titled "Assassins" is based on his earlier, more interestingly titled short, "Let them Die Like Lovers." Perhaps the last of Bruce Willis' late career flurry of quickly, cheaply make action flicks, most of which are largely disposable. Typically they exploit Willis for his star power, hire him for a day to shoot all of his material, and insert it into a movie essentially shot around him. Taking this into account, this film ranks among the top of its heap. Atlas is clearly a skilled director who knows how to set a scene, make great use of sets to create a sense of place and time, and more importantly, he has a talent director of photography and a strong sense of pacing and creating a mood. The cast led by Nomzamo Mbatha and Andy Allo is quite good, and the script has some nice moments for them to work with (but it also has its share of clunky dialogue, too). The story makes good use of Willis, and Mustafa Shakir appears, who also appeared in the short film.

The premise is a fun one: People, assassins, transfer their minds in other bodies to become murdering "drones" and kill the bad guys. The story play with the concept of identity, and there is a love story underpinning all of this, and while it doesn't all gel, I enjoyed how ambitious the filmmakers were in their attempt. The plot itself is very basic (kill the bad guy), and you are REALLY going to have to suspend your disbelief to enjoy this! But if you can, it is a fun film with some interesting ideas and twists. I enjoyed it, and if it is the last Brue lwillis performance we get, well, I am glad it is this movie and not those Detective Knight abominations. I look forward to seeing Atlas' work in the future.

Unfortunately for the actors in this film, it seems the writing isn't enough to be gripping in a weird way. One would also imagine this is a film that came about after industry folks knew about Bruce Willis' aphasia (and by this time were feeding him words to repeat through an earpiece). The ethics of that don't feel hazy, they feel wrong. You can tell by the completely monotone delivery of short bursts of language, mostly while looking in a certain direction, like one does when listening, or remembering, but not usually when experiencing dynamic emotions through the scripted words. Or at least acting like it. Bruce Willis is great and I won't judge him based on him being wrung out for money after experiencing an illness specifically disabling to his career craft.

I hope I get a chance to see the other actors elsewhere to experience what art and entertainment they can provide.

It is no secret that my initial thoughts when I sat down to watch the 2023 crime thriller "Assassin" were: 'great, another dubious Bruce Willis movie'. Yet, I still opted to give the movie a fair chance, if not actually the benefit of the doubt.

I will say that the concept idea behind the movie, as written by Jesse Atlas and Aaron Wolfe definitely had some interesting aspects to it. However, the execution of the movie and transition from script to screen just wasn't overwhelmingly enjoyable.

What went wrong here was the pacing of the movie, which felt somewhat cluttered, and the fact that the character gallery had zero appeal or interest. I have to admit that I cared nothing about any of the characters that pranced around on the screen delivering half-hearted and lukewarm dialogue, whilst performing equally lukewarm action sequences.

And I have to admit that I have never been a fan of Dominic Purcell and his monotonous acting and way of portraying every single character in the same manner. So seeing his face and name on the cover wasn't exactly something that hyped me up. And as for Bruce Willis, then yeah, "Assassin" was another run-of-the-mill-and-the-lights-are-on-but-nobody's-home performance here; you know, as it has been for the past couple of years and numerous movies that he popped up in prior to retiring.

I am sure that there is a audience of hardcore fans of either Willis or Purcell out there that will take some kind of enjoyment from watching director Jesse Atlas's 2023 movie "Assassin". I just wasn't a part of that particular target audience.

"Assassin" is not a movie that I would recommend you to waste your time, money or effort on. As a crime thriller then writers Jesse Atlas and Aaron Wolfe just didn't deliver. And should you make it through the movie once, I doubt you'll ever return to watch it a second time, as the storyline simply barely had enough contents for the first viewing.

My rating of "Assassin" lands on a generous three out of ten stars.

I truly don't understand why Bruce would agree to do movies like this. I guess he must be absolutely desperate for money. I consider him to be such a better quality actor and this movie is not worthy of his talent.

On the same note, even Dominic has set his standards way too low as he has talent that this movie doesn't deserve to have.

The movie plot is too stupid to believe and is just about as exciting as watching a piece of cardboard box flapping around in the wind.

There really isn't much a person can say about a movie that is so pathetic that you truly can't watch till the end.

I have lost so much respect for both of the aforementioned actors!

Complete Garbage!

I think it's pretty safe to say that anything that Bruce Willis is in at this point is going to turn out to be cinematic garbage. I do feel bad for the guy based on his current state of health, but in a way it's a blessing for cinema as a whole that he's no longer able to perform or act, because I simply cannot remember the last time he started a good film. If he's attached to a film it's pretty safe to say that it's going to be a terrible film, he's definitely gone the way of Liam Neeson, he does not know how to choose a good property.

This movie was bad on every single level possible, the production values were unbelievably low, and it felt like it was a tiny, tiny little budget and a really nothing story, there was nothing to this film. It was like the invisible film, it was so thin it felt like it was made of paper.

Please please do yourself a favor and skip this film it is utterly horrendous. It is right up there with the Lone Ranger in the worst films of all time list.

This film tries to take an interesting concept, but executes it horribly. Being able to take over innocent people to assassinate people is quite a good idea and it is a shame this film is not better than it is.

There is no interesting cinematography or editing, which could have aided in the transition between taking over someone else's body. The narrative is extremely dull as well, and attempts a twist which does not work. For being Bruce Willis's possibly final performance, it fails to use him in any fun or unique way.

Also, I thought the ending was going to include some LGBT+ representation. However, it chooses to cop out at the very last second. This was extremely disappointing. I would not recommend checking this out!

I was in Iraq for 30 months and an IED almost blew me into my left hand to the another world now its just a piece of metal hand and I don't even have PPTSD now this movie want me to believe a trained special-op soldiers cant take 3 months of mental hardship have you ever heard about marine and special forces which i was was one.30 months of bullets and rockets around you is worst than 3 months of cold shower forger 30month 3month of combat zone is worse and this dude could take not taking risk in a bathtub? Disrespectful heard of? It' s a shame Bruce Willis ended his career with this he barely has 20 minutes of screen time and no real dialogue. And other actors are awful and devastating they are all play their roles like robots. I had high expectations but it made me crumble and the ending was the worse thing I have ever seen in a while. Don't waste your money just skip this junk.

Enjoyed this a lot! Really well done lighting and sets with solid performances from a big cast, including Bruce Willis in more of a mentor type role. Crazy concept that's well executed. The plot was based on a short film and is probably the most inventive Hollywood action movie storyline I've seen in a while. The government military develops a way to put trained soldiers into other peoples bodies. They kill the bad guys in the other persons body and then jump out and let that random person take the fall for it with no memory of the event. It utilizes interesting lo-fi sci-fi technology that makes it feel real.

Not to bad a film, the concept of the film is interesting, has some matrix similarities.

I would call the film more of a thriller than an action. The only action in the movie are the fight scenes that it has.

Bruce Willis fans usually bag the movies he has been acting in lately. You have to remember that he is not doing well, and probably couldn't any longer support or act as a main role. He obviously still enjoys doing what he was born to do, so takes on roles like these.

All in all not being a high value, large box office film. I enjoyed it, enjoyed the story and concept the acting wasn't totally aweful either. 😁

Just another in the string of money grab movies with Bruce Willis. Bruce Willis gets paid to basically show up do a few lines and bow out about mid movie. Does just enough so they can say he is in their movie and use his name to get viewings. Story line itself had potential to be a decent movie, but unfortunately falls short. As it was never anything other than a quick money grab. Even Dominic Purcell only has a few lines and pretty much takes over to fill the gap in the movie after Bruce Willis exits at around movie. Almost like Bruce and Dominic tag teamed this one. As many have already said it's a true disappointment, especially if you are a Willis fan. But that's seems to be how he wants to end his career, by sell out his name, reputation and fans for a few lines in low budget movies for quick cash.