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Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins Day (2010) - (Blu-ray)
One would have to think that if there is one type of film that would be made for the Blu-ray format it would have to be something like “Smokin’ Aces 2". Considering that the first film became known for it’s up tempo action sequences and bigger than life action, there’s no doubt that is something that was taken into consideration here in the sequel.
“Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins Day” introduces us to Walter Weed (Tom Berenger), a behind the desk kind of guy who works for the FBI. The FBI uncovers that there has been a hit put out on him, the only thing is that they can’t understand quite why. From there findings they realize that Hal Leuco (an unknown big shot) has basically put a price on his head and has managed to enlist the most ruthless and unique group of assassins in a competition to kill old Walter. Only problem is that assassins of this level usually go after people in high positions of power, which Mr. Weed clearly doesn’t fall into that category. Now it’s up to the FBI to not only protect Walter but also to find out exactly why Leuco wants him dead.
Going into this movie I was thinking this one was going to be your typical amped up action film, but that’s not totally the case. The story of the film is interesting in itself, the only thing is that regardless of how complicated the plot may seen, the movie does dumb it down a little to set up action sequences. In my opinion that hurts the film because the movie relies on the dumbed down plot and in doing so makes the overall effort come off a bit drab. It could have been so much more and its not like the plot suffers because of the action though, because there are too many long and drawn out scenes in between said sequences.
The actors here are fine and I actually found it nice to see an actor like Tom Berenger get a decent role like the one he plays here. One of my particular favorites in this film is Vinnie Jones who plays the character of Finbar McTeague. Jones always manages to add personality to his roles and I really dug what he did here. Although the movie might be a little lackluster in places it’s characters like Jones’ Mc Teague that make the movie more enjoyable that what it would have been otherwise. Martha Higareda also does a good job in the “sexy” assassin role, as does just about all of the members of the Tremor family in the film.
The action sequences are good, but there really wasn’t enough of them to make the film what it needed to be. It’s still a decent movie, but it’s nothing that’s going to knock your socks off. Mainly the movie has a lot of filler stuff that could have been trimmed and that’s just a mistake to me considering this is supposed to be an amped up action flick.
The Blu-ray of the film is outstanding with a great 1080p High-Definition widescreen transfer that looks incredible. The English DTS-HD 5.1 sound also lends something to the overall experience of the film too as it has quite the unique soundtrack. Everything sounds amazing and Universal did a great job with the way the disc looks and sounds.
The special features are plentiful here as well with features like “Confessions of an Assassin”, “The Bunker Mentality: Designing the Set”, “Ready, Aim, Fire: The Weapons of Smokin’ Aces 2", “Behind the Scenes with Joe Carnahan” and “Cue the Clown”. There are also deleted scenes, a gag reel and feature commentary with executive producer Joe Carnahan and director P.J. Pesce too.
Overall I would say that “Smokin’ Aces 2" is probably best suited for a rental, but fans of the first film might want to add it to their collection. The movie itself is decent enough, but if you must actually buy this one, at least it gives to a healthy pack of extras to give it more bang for the buck.
Film Rating - **1/2
Blu-Ray Rating - ***
-Ed Demko
