Reign of Assassins (2010)

A Masterpiece!

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

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.

Review: I quite enjoy this movie but I didn't know what was going on towards the end. The sword action is great because the director didn't go overboard with the string action and the basis of the storyline was well written but once the characters true identity starts to unfold, it became a bit of a mess. Its about a legendary Buddhist Monk, called Bodhi whose mummified remains are believed to have mystical powers. One half of the remains are in Prime Minister Zhang's hands, so the Dark Stone gang send out there assassins to kill him and his son, Renfeng. The top assassin for the Dark Stone gang, Drizzle (Michelle Yeoh) steals the remains and flees the scene. On that same night, when Drizzle was trying to get out of town, she comes across Renfeng on a bridge, whose seeking revenge for the murder of his father, so she kills him and comes across a monk, Wisdom (Calvin Li) who demonstrates to Drizzle that her sword skills have four fatal flaws, which could be her downfall if she comes against a master. After 3 months of living together, Wisdom attempts to make Drizzle leave her assassin life behind but she ends up killing him, leaving her with guilt and sorrow. She then goes to a famous surgeon so she can change her appearance and pursue a new life as Zeng Jing. After the surgery she becomes a cloth merchant and she marries the village messenger Ah-seng (Jung Woo-sung). The Dark Stone gang recruit a new assassin, Turquoise who has no remorse and due to be killed after killing her fiancé and in-laws on her wedding night. As there still on the hunt for Drizzle, they send out there top assassin, Fatty Chen, who is mysteriously murdered, so there head leader, the Wheel King, goes on the hunt for her. During a bank robbery in there village, Zeng Jing saves her husbands life, which reveals her old identity to the Dark Stone gang because of her unique sword skills. When the Dark Stone gang finally come face to face with Drizzle, they offer to spare her and her husbands life, if she gives up her half of the remains and helps them find the other half, so she agrees to there terms. When the Dark Stone collects all of the remains, the gang refuse to let her go and they end up turning on each other. After a big sword fight, Drizzle returns home, badly wounded, in front of her husband. 2 of the Dark Stone assassins follow her and come face to face with her husband, who surprises them with a pair of Cen-Ci swords, which were used by Renfeng. After defeating the assassins, he takes his wife to the surgeon to help her with her fatal wounds. We then see that her husband is really Renfeng, who didn't die from Drizzle's sword on the bridge and has also had surgery to change his appearance. When Drizzle finds out the truth, Ah- seng tells her that there relationship is over because of what she and the Dark Stone gang had done to his family. Although he wants to kill her, he obviously has true feelings for her so he just tells her to leave. Meanwhile, the Wheel King tries to use his new powers to correct his castration, that happened when he was a boy and when Turquoise finds out his defect whilst seducing him, the Wheel King gets angry and buries her alive under a bridge. He then gets a signal from Drizzle who has decided to engage him in a final battle at a graveyard. When he arrives, he sees Renfeng dead and he starts to fight Drizzle, who uses the technique that she was taught by Wisdom to defeat him. As Drizzle used a special drug to make her husband seem dead, so he could witness her defeat the Wheel King, he sees that she is badly wounded but still alive and he carries her home. Confusing, but detailed and well put together. One of the biggest let downs for this movie is the subtitles, which were going at the speed of light. I'm sure I would have enjoyed the movie much more if I knew what they were saying. With that aside the whole look and feel of the movie was impressive and the actors put in good performances, especially Michelle Yeoh. The love story was sweet and the scenery was authentic but they over complicated the storyline. Watchable!Round-Up: This movie was directed by Chao-Bin Su who brought you Silk in 2006 and B.T.S. (Better Than Sex) in 2002. He hasn't got a lot of experience behind the camera but he had the help of John Woo, who produced the movie. Personally, I think he done a good job with this film, even though it made a lose at the box office but I would have liked it to be dubbed.Budget: $14million Worldwide Gross: $13millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their action movies starring Michelle Yeoh, Woo-Sung Jung, Xueqi Wang, Shawn Yue and Kelly Lin. 5/10

When I watched this movie I thought I would get another average martial arts flick with no story at all. But I was quite surprised; it had me entertained and gave me a few surprises. Especially the plot twist at the end. What I like a lot is the symbolism in the movie. Like the scenes with the rain were sweet and the stuff about karma. The characters weren't too boring or exaggerated. It was a nice touch to see one of the assassins have a wife and kid like a normal person. The fighting scenes were nicely choreographed. Overall it was an entertaining movie to watch.

The Dark Stone gang is tracing the remains of a Buddhist priest, because the rumour is that the person who owns those remains will rule over the kung fu world. One of the assassins kills the person who owns half of the corpse, and then makes off with it, thereby betraying her gang. She then meets Wisdom, a martial arts master turned monk, who teaches her that her deed was wrong; she therefore seeks a physician who can change her face for her, turning her into Zeng Jing (the lovely Michelle Yeoh). In her new identity, she becomes a fabric merchant in the big city, where she meets and falls in love with messenger Jiang A-sheng (Woo-sung Jung); soon they marry and appear to have a tranquil life together. But all is not as it seems; not only is Zeng Jing not who she says she is, but neither is Jiang A-sheng, and in the meantime her old gang, among others, continues to search for their erstwhile companion - and the remains of the monk....This 2010 film was Michelle Yeoh's first wuxia film since the acclaimed "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," and she is as beautiful and graceful as ever, playing a rather complex character who is adept at hiding who she really is, yet capable of sincerely falling in love even when she's, perhaps first and foremost, a killer. The martial arts fights are amazing, but never silly-looking, and the supporting characters are all well-drawn, including a young woman brought into the gang to take Zeng Jing's place, a "magician" who uses both martial arts and magic to defeat his enemies, and the leader of the Dark Stone gang, a eunuch who wants nothing more than to be a "real man," yet who is more skilled a fighter then all of them. Must of this story takes place in city-scapes and at night, so we don't have the lovely landscapes sometimes seen in historical martial arts films, but with Yeoh illuminating the screen with her graceful presence, who needs mere trees and mountains?