Mise à prix 2

OK, I won't even compare this movie with the 'original,' as there really is no connection between the two. Well, other than the one assassin and the fact that the FBI is the main government agency involved.

So, standing on its own, the best that could be said of 'Smokin' Aces II - Assassins' Ball' is that it is mildly entertaining if you like movies of this genre.

By that I mean lots of gunfire, blood, gore and a few hot women.

Otherwise, the script is weak, the plot weaker, and the acting...well, it can barely be called acting.

By itself, 'Smokin' Aces II' rates four stars at best. You can save yourself some money and wait until it hits the discount bins, you won't be missing anything by doing so. But do pick it up when it gets marked down, especially if you like these kind of brainless shoot-'em-up flicks!

I was sent an advance copy of this movie on DVD. I enjoyed the first Smokin Aces and I had no problem spending 90 minutes on this one. Firstly, there's tons of gratuitous violence and nudity. If that's not your thing, skip this.

Secondly, this is called Smokin Aces 2, but from its apparent direct-to-DVD release status, you can expect that Jeremy Piven and other big cast members like Ray Liotta didn't show up. However, Tommy Flanagan (the guy from the first movie who changes his face) has a reprisal. We see Vinnie Jones of Snatch fame (Bullet-tooth Tony) playing the usual hit-man/tough man. Tom Berenger is easily the best, as he plays the target of a large assassination contract for his head.

The movie is a sequel, but it has nothing to do with the Buddy Aces Israel storyline (though his name is mentioned once, I guess just to get SOME sort of movie-verse continuity). Like the first, Smokin Aces 2 sets up the assassination contract, but the storyline is not even close to as appealing and creative as the first. You do get to see the rival assassins preparing and scheming to be first to claim the prize, however unlike SA-1, there is no creative twist to how they all converge on the target. Instead you just get a boring shootout with some very (VERY) far-fetched comical interludes (All I'll say is exploding midget clowns).

A terrible script, terrible storyline, a worse ending, yet somehow the first half of the movie was tolerable. If you're a male who likes guns and boobs, you'll likely be able to sit through this. Autumn Reeser shows some skin, as does Martha Higareda, someone I had not known until this movie.

It's still a 2/10. One point for guns, the other for naked ladies. I'm pretty sure 99.9% of females will despise this movie, and any male not enamored with action/nudity probably will too.

Thou not even close to its predecessor, this movie is quite watchable and entertaining. Pretty big cast doing a bit less than what could be expected from such actors, given the decent script, although the dialog was surely not the greatest.. everything was there for some better exposition and back-story. Maybe 20 minutes more runtime might have done the trick. You could see the reduced budget, especially during the explosions and in choice of music. Budget (as most of the time) surely influenced the total feel of the movie.. which seemed a bit rushed and unpolished, and also the pressure (from Exec Producer J.C. maybe?) to follow the visual style of the first movie so closely...looks like it was a bit too much. All in all it's still a decent / fun movie, could have been much better (like so many big-budget releases) but still manages to be fairly entertaining.

I really, really liked Smokin Aces, and i was excited to go watch this sequel, featuring my favorite UK actor Vinnie Jones, who always gives violent movies this little extra just be his appearance.

As so often with sequels, this one just doesn't cut it - it is nowhere near as well-acted, intense and spectacular as the original.

The story features some of the assassins from part 1, but they have been cramped into the plot in an awkward way this time - without giving away too much, it's rather unbelievable. Their methods seem dull after watching part 1, and the addition of the new assassins doesn't make up for that at all.

Bad, b-movie style acting and extremely bad CGI (explosions!) take up the remaining 1.5 hours, until the foreseeable-from-minute-1 plot-twist kicks in.

Loads of plot holes, bad dialogs and unexplained sudden character-developments makes me rate this 3/10 unfortunately.

TLDR: Don't bother, grab it once its out on DVD

Joe Carnahan's original Smokin' Aces was received with mixed feelings but a very fine piece of entertainment in itself. The original owed a lot to black crime comedies in the style of Guy Ritchie.

This sequel/prequel/crapquel is only produced by Carnahan. He passes the directing helm to P.J. Pesce. A quick look at this "director" credit list on IMDb will tell you exactly what to expect. Assassin's Ball is diluted in every way imaginable. First, it is only very loosely connected to the original. One can guess the superb and eclectic cast from the original was probably not easy to secure and so, in an attempt to cash in, they came up with a pitiful excuse of a story which tries to keep the theme of assassins all after the same target. But the story brings nothing new and is in fact inferior. The new characters are dumbed down versions of the old ones and the acting quality is also down from he previous effort.

There are sequences in this film that will make you cringe. For instance, a man is shot and the cheap-o blood splatter digital effect goes in an absolutely WRONG, gravity and logic- defying direction. And this single example encapsulates the weak sense of direction on display here.

How could the producer, a man who has shot miraculously cool indie flicks and also a masterpiece such as Narc actually OK any of this? Did Carnahan just cash the check and not control the quality here?

My other reviews will demonstrate I rarely am emotional about films when I review them but here, I must point out how disappointed I am with Assassin's Ball. Although the original was not greatness on film, it had heart, quality direction and a certain unique quality to it. How can Carnahan, who once was headed to great things after Narc, be reduced to a producer role on such garbage? This once great director saw several of his rumored projects scrapped, given to others or go in limbo.

I once felt he would be one of the next great directors and writers of Hollywood but with this offering, I now have serious doubt about Carnahan and he no longer resides on my "must see" list. As for director Pesce, this is without a doubt the last movie from this guy I ever watch.

I'm giving it a 3 solely because of the few entertaining bits they sucked from the original.