In order to really enjoy this movie, you have to put your brain in a freezer for 133 minutes and just refrain from trying analyze anything in here. There are more holes in this story than swiss cheese, as the cliché somewhat goes.
Having said that, however, I did enjoy the action scenes and the by-play between the two assassins - "Robert Rath" (Sylvester Stallone) and "Miguel Bain" (Antonio Banderas) - enough to make it a fun ride. I might even have rated it another star higher had a few things weren't confusing and left unanswered, or Banderas spoke clearer English. Still, it's not bad and for fans of "Sly" and action films, worth a look.
Plot summary
Assassin Robert Rath arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness a rival hired gun complete the job for him -- with grisly results. Horrified by the murder of innocent bystanders, Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life. But finding his way out of the world of contract killing grows ever more dangerous as Rath falls for his female target and becomes a marked man himself.
Uploaded by: OTTO
June 08, 2013 at 06:06 PM
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A No-Brained-But-Fun Ride
Graceful, intelligent action movie
This highly engaging thriller has a polished edge of style and sophistication to it, giving it an upper hand over the rest of the endless action movies churned out during the never-ending '90s. Mixing the talents of an established director who knows how to handle the action - step up, Richard Donner - and two soon-to-be-mega-famous scriptwriters, the Wachowski brothers (THE MATRIX), plus some surprisingly good performances from the interesting cast, and what you have is a decent movie. The action sequences are excellently handled, highly realistic and at the same time very exciting, and the various special effects and stunts are inserted perfectly into the flow of things.
Meanwhile the scenes of suspense between the action are full of very real danger, so despite the long running time you never find your attention wavering. Cast in the flawed hero mould is endlessly-criticised Sylvestor Stallone, putting in a nicely subtle performance and letting his nemesis, Antonio Banderas, do all of the (over)acting as psychotic but deadly assassin Miguel Bain. Holding the movie together is a low-key and sweet Julianne Moore, as a surveillance expert who finds herself over her head and in the middle of a violent battle to the death between two expert marksmen. The only problem I have with a film like this is that all other action movies don't possess the same level of commitment, grace, and intelligence as this one does.
Decent Action Film With Two Great Stars
Professional hit-man Robert Rath wants to fulfill a few more contracts before retiring but unscrupulous ambitious newcomer hit-man Miguel Bain keeps killing Rath's targets.
How often are Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas in the same movie? Not very often. And how often are they both killers, who would be more than happy to kill each other? Only once, so far as I know. It is a great combination, and proof that Stallone was not just a star of the 80s -- he is just as strong here (and some would say he is still good in 2015).
This also happens to be one of those Julianne Moore films that has her as a main character before you realized that Moore was a big star. Maybe at this point it was more obvious, but it is quite surprising how many films she did before she was seen as an A-list actress.