Movie Review # 67 Smokin' Aces 2 Assassins' Ball (2010)

Release:2010
Director: P.J. Pesce http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675894/
Writer(s):
P.J. Pesce http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0675894/
Olatunde Osunsanmi http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1069989/
Olumide Odebunmi http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1343147/
Tom Abrams http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0009248/
Joe Carnahan http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0138620/
Cast:
Tom Berenger http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000297/
Tommy Flanagan http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0281107/
Clayne Crawford http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0186728/
Vinnie Jones http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005068/
Ernie Hudson http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001368/

Ratings:
Rotten Tomatoes: 24% Audience http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/smokin_aces_2_assassins_ball/
IMDb: 5.0/10 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1319743/
Netflix: 3.1 Stars


Review:
Sequels are a hit or miss proposition. Especially for a movies like the orginal Smokin' Aces where everyone pretty much was killed. So what or who can Smokin' Aces 2 bring back? How about none of it and call it a prequel. Yes a prequel to a hit that happened before the Buddy Israel hit. Sounds interesting if they left off the number 2. Because they should have as this film should have stood alone from the original and not be called a sequel.

But they didn't and well they should have. As this movie soils what made the first one so grand. Which was the characters and their stories. Not just the marks story. Which this one focuses on a lot. Which is fine except that it steals almost word for word of the vastly superior The Usual Suspects. Where a guy fabricates a story in order to off everyone.

That's your entire plot right there in a sentence. I know it might be hard for you to believe. But I am huge fan of the first Smokin' Aces. This one I am not as it is overly slow and lethargic to the point of tedium. Till you get to the end of the movie and wham its petal to the metal action. That it is so over the top and silly that it is fun. But still falls flat compared to the first one.

I know that this is a straight dvd release. Still they could have done the fun shots that made the first one great. As action for the most part is easy to shoot. Instead we get three exploding clowns, a man who wears the faces and hair of his victims, a black widow, a surgeon and the rednecks that blow shit up. None of which has the panache or like ability of any of the original cast.

As each falls squarely into a stereotype and they never leave it. Which is probably the reason that this did not make it back to the big screen. Not saying that the first was a box office success. Because it was not it was practically a flop. But what it lacked in the big screen it made it up for on the dvd racks. Where it became a cult favorite amongst the action fanatics.

But that have been the reason there to on why this went straight to dvd. Either which way this is just a flawed movie. That has only half the heart beat and action of the first one. Which is extremely sad as this movie series could have been something more. Instead we are stuck with what is Smokin' Aces 2.

My Rating: 2.75/ 5 Stars