The Age of Commercialism

A Masterpiece!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

ASSASSINS' CODE really is a boring action B-movie. It feels like one of those cheap straight-to-video efforts from the 1990s, although it was made in 2011; for a thriller, it's amateurish in the extreme, and almost totally devoid of suspense or decent action scenes.Despite the title, the plotting is along the lines of the old 'retrieve the computer disk' variety. Some of the characters are supposed to be North Korean agents, but none of it rings true. I appreciate that they went ahead and cast a few Asian actors in lead roles, but none of them give the kind of decent performances you'd expect even from this type of movie.What we do get are a whole lot of mindless shoot-out scenes with dull choreography, and various cameos from old genre stars: Martin Kove, Richard Moll, John Savage, Christopher Atkins. There's no real reason to tune in.

At the start of the movie, Jennifer walks into the building housing the offices of a company that deals with the U.S. government. In just minutes, at least 10 people die. It's probably 11, because that's the total given by Dodd as he talks to his friend Paul while a woman does yoga in a park.Powers (I hope that's right) is being interrogated in blue and white. That's like black and white, only blue. Most of the rest of the movie is flashbacks explaining what Powers is saying.Paul was a government hit man who has killed many people but he does not currently own a gun. He rents one when he needs one, and he practices frequently.There is a disk that contains vital information. Lots of people want it, including North Korean big shot Karl Kim, and are willing to kill for it. Eight people die, and Paul is the prime suspect. While he later admits to killing the people, he says he had to, as if it were self-defense. Paul is hurt and on the run, and Stacia, an divorced ER nurse who just worked a double shift, finds him behind a dumpster. He takes her hostage. Later, he visits Arlo and finds out more information. There is more shooting, and Arlo and Paul return to Stacia's place. Altman is an important government agent who might be corrupt. He is quite serious and demanding but also likes to have fun with women. Tony is his "point man" but he doesn't seem to be doing a very good job.More people get shot.My main incentive to watch this was seeing Bull from Night Court in a different kind of role. He is pretty good, but not as moral as I am used to. The scenes with Paul and Arlo were sometimes funny, especially with Stacia. Dodd was a good character too.This isn't my kind of movie, and I can't say whether it is any good or not. I was just glad when it was over and certain people survived. And no, not everyone we like is going to survive.

I decided to buy this movie because not only did it contain an interesting B movie cast (John Savage, Martin Kove, Christopher Atkins, and Richard Moll), but that the store that was selling it was only charging a dollar. Boy, it sure didn't take long into watching this movie before I was regretting my decision. It's a really cheap affair, with cinematography that at times resembles one of those shot on video B movies from the 1980s. No one in the cast gives a particularly good performance, with the lead actor coming across as incredibly stiff and emotionless. But the biggest problem with the movie is that it's really boring. Though the DVD case promises "fast action and furious martial arts", the gun battles have absolutely no power and excitement, and while there are some fisticuffs here and there, I don't think any of them qualify as being martial arts. Unless you want to be bored out of your mind by endless scenes of people talking, I would strongly recommend you give this movie a miss.

When you read the jacket on the movie, it says that it contains Fast action and Furious martial arts. In truth, out of 101 minutes of running time, you have a total of 12 people shot in the movie whereby 6 are shot in the beginning and 6 are shot 92 minutes later. In between is a yawn.Their is no martial arts anywhere in the movie that I could see and I since a lot of the movie is centred around brooding and introspection, you couldn't call it a thriller either and if its a drama, it's very uninspiring. I truly don't know what to make of it other than to say don't waste your time on it.