Assassin's Bullet (2012)

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Not being satisfied with killing the western genre, Christian Slater turns his sights on spy thrillers. Slater plays a former FBI official who now works at the US embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. There is a vigilante assassin of "bad" Muslims that for some reason is a problem. We get to see that the killer is a dark haired woman.In order to get Christian Slater back into the FBI business, the film incorporates the acting of Donald Sutherland, Hollywood's go-to guy for black ops since "JFK." In addition to the killings, the movie centers around Slater's obsession with a red headed belly dancer and a psychologist talking to a blond woman who teaches English.The film gives you clues and key plot points almost in a manner of "Student Bodies" with a big arrow and the word "clue" by it. The camera will zoom in and pause to let us know the director thinks his audience is composed of idiots. Slater was unconvincing. Elika Portnoy was boring. This is not an action thriller, but a poorly developed drama/mystery.On the plus side we did get to see some of the old architecture of Bulgaria.Parental Guide: No f-bombs, no nudity, minor bed scene.

First of all this is not some Hollywood blockbuster and it is surely not intended to be one, so we judge it for what it is.The idea of the story is actually very good and somewhat ambitious. It is apparent though, that the writer did not know exactly where to go with the story and the execution of the film seemed hesitant. The one character(the psychologist) in the film appeared to play a key part in the development of the film, but his developments remained secret and had no effect on the outcome. Also the plot did not really seem to develop it remained difficult to stick all the information together to see where things were going although the part which should have remained hidden until later in the film became clear as daylight in the beginning minutes.As with most lower budget films the connection with the main character remains difficult and he is somewhat undefined. The chronological progression of the film is sound though and the characters make sense. With less unnecessary snippets and more adhesive parts to the puzzle this could have been a much more accomplished action film. Interesting and creative plot not well executed, so it is worth to watch but don't expect anything great.

Thinking about Christian Slater and where he could've been now, if he made the right choices or still was able to pull some good performances out of his hat, is almost depressing. But in this movie he seems to be sober or at least it seems he is trying to act again. Maybe he's trying to get into that "Heathers" reboot they're planning for TV, which apparently will be playing 20 years after the original events went down (who better to cast than him? And possibly Wynona of course).But back to this, that also has Donald Sutherland, always reliable. Even with a weak script or dialog he produces movie magic. Or at least something watchable. Of course he is only a bit player in this, Slater and one of the actresses being the main focus points in this. I don't expect anyone to be too surprised by the developments of the movie, but I won't reveal anything here. Almost decent effort, with a strange ending ...

Sorry to say, but this Bulgaria-made movie is by far the most idiotic piece of cinema you could possibly imagine. It is hard to believe this had a budget of 5 million to work with and I guess most of it went into paying Slater and Spall, whom I would hardly imagine will take the part without a substantial paycheck. Concentrating on the actual movie, I would start with the story, which is non-existent and so badly written you could hardly follow what exactly is going on. Advertised as an action movie, the action is so little you could easily fall asleep. The biggest fight scene between Slater and the woman near the end is banal and completely detached from the entire plot (if there is any plot at all), that it makes you wonder if they just needed Slater to be brutally beaten because he was so stupid to take the part. The woman, whose name I can't bother to remember is such a bad actress, it made me feel uncomfortable and I would strongly advice her to find a real job as acting can hardly get worse nowadays...not to mention how incredibly unnatural everything she does is. I never say this about any woman, but sometimes people who are obviously terrible actors are cast because of their good looks - not the case here unfortunately, but then again I doubt there were any auditions for the role as the actress is also the writer. Screenplay-wise I would say this is the most unrealistically portrayed Bulgaria ever seen. You see scenes more suited for Iraq or Afghanistan 20 years ago rather than Bulgaria. Buying typical Arab clothing on the street in a European country is very unusual even for a movie. I assume the author wanted to ridicule the current situation in Bulgaria, where corruption and organised crime are thriving but involving some middle-Eastern terrorists and basically making it look like Bulgaria is more or less the center of modern day terrorism is moronic. I am not going to discuss the endless belly dance scenes and perverted moments involving Slater in a public place seemingly having an orgasm, but one thing is certain - sexuality does not always sell!I would not recommend this piece of "action" to anyone, who considers themselves moderately intelligent! In fact I would not recommend it even as a joke as that would be too cruel!