11 Sep 2007

Rogue Assassin

Original Title: Wanming Shuanglong

Director: Philip G Atwell

Language: English with English and Chinese subtitles

Starring: Andrea Roth, Devon Aoki, Jason Statham, Jet Li, John Lone, Kane Kosugi, Kennedy Lauren Montano, Luis Guzman, Mark Cheng

Release: 2007-09-11

Butch girls and badass boys will totally love this ultra-violent smackdown between action stars Jet Li and Jason Statham (The Transporter, Crank). With its no-nonsense action choreography, dark settings and complete lack of humour, Rogue Assassin is a film created perfectly for action fans and no one else.

Jason Statham plays a cop in search of an assassin called Rogue. When Rogue murders his partner (Terry Chen) and entire family, Jason makes it his personal mission to bring down Rogue. However, it is difficult to track him because he goes for plastic surgery and changes his face after every assignment.

Jason has reason to believe that Jet Li may be the real Rogue. But Jet/Rogue is in the middle of an escalating gang war between a Chinese triad and a Japanese triad. Getting to Jet/Rogue may be more dangerous than he thought...

When this film opened in the US last month, it was slammed by some critics. But Fridae holds an entirely different view. Yes, Rogue Assassin is a B-grade film that may never be spoken in the same breath as The Bourne Ultimatum. But it is an excellent B-grade actioner that delivers the thrills and spills in a straightforward, unfussy manner.

Action buffs will love this movie for its cool and unpretentious action sequences that cover the whole spectrum, from gun battles to swordfights to hand combat to big gang clashes. For anyone who enjoys the sound of bones crunching and cars smashing, this one's for you.