My main gripe really is the timing, which seemed to get worse and worse the closer to the end it got. It also felt a bit like they were trying to imitate formulas they had seen in other movies, not to say "It's pretentious", which would be a bit too much. The story is OK but not remarkable, I'd even almost say "forgettable". The (very very rare) action is OK, nothing remarkable.If I'd HAVE TO say either "watch" or "don't watch", I'd immediately say "don't watch", but I don't mean to say that the movie is awful. There are just so many better things to spend 80 (long-ass) minutes with. OK, I seem to need about 10 words more for this to pass.

Action films come along all the time, but sometimes the cover or poster art to the release is a bit deceptive. While it is the selling point and they clearly want it to be eye catching and interesting, it can also hurt a film if it doesn't live up to expectations. Four Assassins is one such film that leads you to prepare for an action heavy film, but delivers something completely different, but does it work? Four Assassins follows four assassins that meet up in a Hong Kong hotel room to resolve unfinished business. As the night progresses secrets and the truth is slowly revealed that affects them all and all in the name of love. The story here is fairly simple and for all intents and purposes should not work at all, but somehow does. Most of this is thanks to the cast featuring the always good Will Yun Lee and Miguel Ferrer taking the lead. The film features some decent action, but is more about the character study than anything else. The structure is very Tarantinoish focusing on the dialogue as opposed to the action to keep this film moving forward as well as using flashbacks to learn more about their past. While at first it is a bit of a letdown with the lack of action, the well written dialogue ends up making for an unexpected film that works. While it doesn't break any ground it still steps out of the normal forgettable action fare and ends up delivering a smart thought provoking story. Have no fear, there is some action here and while it's not much it is well done.This film is heavy on the dialogue, but keeps things interesting enough to keep the viewer from losing interest. Think Reservoir Dogs and change out the bank robbers with assassins and you have the vibe of this film. Lee has everything needed to carry this movie and does a great job. The rest of the cast do a fine job, but the only down side may be the misleading box art. Hopefully people will give this film more of a chance and watch it for what it is as opposed to what it appears to be.

Perhaps a better name for this film would have been 'Bore Assassins'… an extremely slow moving film, with lots of talk, and very little action. With the title of the film being "Four Assassins" you would have expected plenty of action, copious killings, a plethora of blood splatter crime scenes, and intricate well executed, diabolical, methodical murder sequences; however, the audience is relegated to basically a 'one act' play where 99% of the film takes place in a single hotel room.The film centers on Marcus, played by Will Yun Lee (Red Dawn 2012/ Total Recall 2012). Marcus is a gun for hire, who has been commissioned to kill a husband and his wife. As the film begins, Marcus is awaiting final payment for his services in his hotel room. He is soon joined by his 'assassin' mentor, Eli (played by Miguel Ferrer), his former lover and fellow assassin, Eva (played by Emilie Guillot), and an upcoming 'newbie' assassin, Chase (played by Oliver Williams). There seems to be an issue with the 'hit' that Marcus was hired to do, and the film goes into great, agonizing details of the events which have led these four (4) individuals to arrive at this hotel room, on this night, at this specific time. The three (3) guests have two hours to determine what events have actually transpired during the Marcus 'hit' before an anticipated phone call from the boss takes place.I believe the film would have been a much better film, if the film would have tracked the trials and tribulations of the life Marcus. Mentored by Eli at the age of 15 to become a viable assassin, and united with Eva to become a forcible killing duo; this is the story we the audience wanted to see… not 'My Hakata Tonton hot pot dinner with Eli and friends'.I cannot recommend this film, not even for home viewing. After all is said and done, the ultimate outcome is far more depressing than having to endure the 88 minutes to finally get to it. I'd stay away from this one, definitely not worth your time or your attention to seek out.See More of my Reviews on FB @ "The Faris Reel"

A rather stylishly shot action drama, 4 Assassins sees a quartet of killers meet in a swanky Hong Hotel room. They are there to discuss a hit that seemingly went wrong: two people were to be killed but only one body was found. The assassin in question is Marcus (Yun Lee) who swears there were two bodies and he terminated both targets. His partners in crime, however, do not believe him. There is old friend and mentor Eli (Ferrer) who despite caring a lot for Marcus knows he is lying and knows that Marcus is no longer a reliable killer. Then there is Cordelia (Renard), Marcus' old flame and a ruthless killer herself and who also sees that Marcus has become weak. Rounding out the foursome is Chase (Williams) who is really only there to be annoying, British (so therefore, annoying!) and to provide tension within in the group as all he would really like to do is shoot Marcus in the head. So the four squabble, reminisce, have dinner and wait for the inevitable phone call signalling it is time to terminate Marcus.4 Assassins might, unfortunately, be light on the action but it is still a satisfying little drama about killers contemplating their profession and coming to terms with the fact they have to kill one of their own. Despite the absence of copious action and the confined setting, the film never drags and tension is built quite nicely even if the climax if fairly predictable. The dialogue isn't always quite as sharp and clever as the makers would like to think it is but the cast share genuine chemistry: especially Ferrer and Yun Lee who really feel like old friends and infuse their characters with actual personality. Now, the set up might not sound like the most appealing (a group of contract killers stuck in a hotel room chatting and having dinner) but, as mentioned, tension is built well and the film benefits from some striking photography. Frequent flashbacks are also included as the four discuss previous missions and we get to see them at work: these scenes also feature much of the, limited, action.There are a couple of nice hand-to-hand combat scenes including a somewhat brutal scene that sees Cordelia taking a beating on her first assignment, a silly sequence involving a car in Wales of all places (!!) and the requisite amount of silencer based gun action. It would have been nice to have a bit more action or at least another fight scene but 4 Assassins still works thanks to the likable cast and stylish production design. It's certainly a B-movie that is classier than you might first think and it's always good to see the much-underrated Miguel (Robocop) Ferrer getting a nice meaty part.Not Bad.