Empire of Assassins challenges you from the first scene. That is to say, the action is so messily directed that merely following the first scene is hard enough, let alone trying to get a bead on any semblance of story or structure in the haphazard narrative that follows. A summer release on the ever-popular home demand entertainment track, Empire of Assassinsmust have been a cheap buy for distributor Lionsgate, who probably figured they could piggyback on the dwindling allure of beautiful martial art imports à la Hero and the current release and critically acclaimed 13 Assassins.
A Lionsgate press release totes the film as action packed with fighting styles as original as The Karate Kid and The Matrix. The obvious strangeness of these two titles in any comparative astounds, only further confusing this misguided film’s marketing campaign and identity. Were anyone to settle in with those titles in mind, their expectations would be violently dashed on the rocks of dissatisfaction.
At its most basic level, the film looks like it was shot on DV and touched up with some glossy After Effects work to dupe the layman into thinking they’re watching a high-budget production. The façade, however, rings false and one feels they are watching a daytime TV movie from the 1990s. Even the cover synopsis feels like it was copied from its original language, put through an online translator, and pasted without review onto the box. The language is clunky and grammatically bankrupt, setting up the movie that plays the same way. This one's a pass.
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"Empire of Assassins" is on sale July 5, 2011 and is rated R. Martial-Arts. Directed by Dou Xiao. Written by Liu Qi. Starring Li Yuan, Sun Huining, Xie Miao.
