User reviews

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!

Pretty much the same plot as the first one. Someone has put out a hit on another person and dozens of highly skilled assassins are called in to take him out. Bullets fly, bodies fall and the story doesn't seem all that it was suppose to be.

I'm one of a few people who really dug Smokin Aces. It had great quirky characters, good action when it was actually happening and it showed Ryan Reynolds can do more than just comedy. People seemed to complain that it was thin on story, needed more action, and deserved a better twist. Well, I am putting all those complaints to the second film, which is actually a prequel.

Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins Ball is a cheap direct to DVD cashing in on the name, quick and dirty film. The production values are pretty low rent and the acting suits it. Vinnie Jones is the biggest name draw and he is hardly in the film. They plaster his face all over the poster and he honestly doesn't belong there. In fact, one of the main characters isn't even on the poster. He's not recognizable enough. Tom Berenger plays the character who has the contract out on him and a special team of agents must protect him. So they take him to a vault, highly protected and assure him no one can get in. Sure enough, dozens of crazy hit men show up and that's when things go from bad to worse.

The Tremor family makes a return, minus Captain Kirk and Martin Keamy (Star Trek and Lost fans can attest). They kept the least interesting brother, the one who obviously needed the money, and introduce three new Tremor characters. The crazy sister, the dumb bigger brother and the hillbilly father. None of these new tremor characters are as interesting as the two missing. The film tries to fill that void, but it fails. Instead the fans get a poor imitation of one of the better aspects of the first film.

The action is lame and never feels as frantic as it should. The cheap explosions are goofy and laughable. We never get a chance to connect to any of the characters. In the first film, I was picking my favourite hit men, this one I had none. None of them are as cool, or as memorable.

The twist is lame and makes little to no sense. The writing of the film was slacking and obviously written so quickly to get the film into production that people must have really not read it. The director P.J. Pesce, seems to specialize in direct to video films. It shows, since he has no theatrical vision and the film feels very confined to its obvious production costs.

If you hated the first film, thought it was decent or just liked it, I would advise you to skip this one. I only recommend it if you are truly a die hard fan. Even then, I say proceed with caution.

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

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.

What an awful film, the whole concept was absurd. It's one of the dumbest movies I've seen and the way they tried to dress it up as some 'Usual Suspects' style work of genius was laughable. Everything to do with the four morons in the truck (especially the clowns) would ruin any film and the plot was full of holes. Wilful suspension of disbelief is one thing but this required suspension of all intelligence.

There are none of the big stars of the first movie. Vinnie Jones, who's improving as an actor and I want to like, still cannot deliver a line without sounding like he's reading it from a script for the first time and Tom Berenger is clearly desperate to be accepted by Hollywood again if he is taking parts like this. I bet he was very well behaved on set this time.

Bizarrely though, this had one of the best last ten seconds of a movie I've ever seen, which is all that stopped me giving it a rating of one but by then the film was beyond redemption and it was wasted. If it had been put on the end of a decent film it would have gone down as one of the all time classic endings, it was that good an idea. Now it will just be forgotten on the end of a bit of straight to DVD garbage, which is nothing short of tragic.

I feel like most of the votes for Smokin' Aces 2 were given without an actual viewing of the movie. I'll admit, as soon as I heard there would be a sequel (which turned out to be a prequel) I wasn't happy, and wanted to rate it badly myself. I feel as though most people shared my sentiment, but rated the film without actually watching it first. I feel it's at very least in the category of a 6, with the original Aces at at least a 7 on IMDb. I suppose viewers just don't feel the way I do. Now, about the film...

Aces 2 was... different from the first film. Most notably, no real names here. Jeremy Piven and Ryan Reynolds are gone. It's a big loss, but if you consider Aces 2 to be a similar story without actually RELATING it to the first film, it becomes a lot more fun. Aces 2 has a style of it's own, different from the original. Where Aces 1 had smooth music and a flowing story, a style all it's own, Aces 2 has rock music and probably more swearing. The Tremors family appear again, but this time around, it's only Lester and a few others you could honestly care less about. The setup is entertaining, the shootouts are fair enough, and the humor (Tremors family related) is fun if you can get past the bizarre nature of it all. Aces 2 is far from realistic, and there are enough plot holes to sink a boat, but it really isn't a bad film. Certainly not intelligent like the first, but eh. Watch the film, don't relate it to the original, and at very least, WAIT for the ending. The final moments will make the entire film worth it, if nothing else.

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.

OK, I am posting this as it seems that too many people reviewing this have completely missed the point.

First, the Special Effects: Yes they were done the way they were (badly, with a comic slant) on purpose. For two reasons. One, they were emulating British gangster flicks (for reasons of budget or style - your guess) - and second they were following a particular anarchist film style which you may be familiar with - Natural Born Killers anyone? Or perhaps you think Mr. Oliver Stone was also being cheap with the special effects? The scene of the rednecks tooing and froin in the truck with the background changing the way it did was a direct homage to that film.

Second and last - you don't go to a film like this expecting it to solve your pointless existence. You go to have a laugh and hopefully some fun. This film did that pretty good.

Too short if you ask me. The director had more ideas then made the screen - I blame the editing :) Cheers

Nowhere as good as the first one. It got better as it went on, If it wasn't for Clayne Crawford I would have given up in the first 10 minutes. The ending was good. Too bad it's so slow & low budget in the beginning, they probably lost a lot of people because of that.

First of all and most of all, this movie was shot entirely for TV - lousy camera work, very bad acting, bad script, irregularly paced and silly few plot twists.

Characters are not developed, special effects (of e.g. explosives) look highly unrealistic as if the budget was cut in the middle of production.

Also closer to the end of the film the scriptwriters inserted a three minutes needless love story which ended quite abruptly.

Don't waste your time on this even if you liked the original movie - I couldn't make myself finish watching it.

Wow what a dog of a movie - I guess they bought the rights to the title but this as far from a sequel as it's possible to get.

The only good thing here are the actor who runs the jazz club and Vinnie Jones who really deserves better (Sorry but having breasts and a push-up bra doesn't not make either of the two female leads any better or anymore watchable).

I like cheesy assassin films - the Tournament, Wanted, Shoot'Em Up, because they are ironic and self-mocking: this, this has none of that - honestly whatever camel's behind it came shooting out of it should return again ashamed.

This really is a by the numbers no imagination just recycle what you think will sell marketing ploy. Both the director and the writers should have prices put on their heads for selling this granola to the public......

oh Jesus this film where to start? I have never seen the original smoking aces but I saw this in a charity shop and thought why not the original is meant to be great. The plot itself I have no problem with bunch of killers hired to kill a guy they all want him but only one can cash in the reward. The writing, however was poor.

The blonde girl was like a really annoying version of Sheri Moon Zombie (who I don't mind)and all the stupid forced lines that her family make just really annoys me. Vinny Jones came across as some sort of softie and falls in love with this girl he has just met in a bar which makes no sense. The FBI seem more incompetent than the are in real life if that's possible.

The effects were god awful there are these terrible explosions that look like it was done in powerpoint. You know the kind that explodes and leaves no damage and it looks like it's just shoved on top of the background. There are CGI chairs blowing up which looks terrible and even the gunfire looks like a student project. This has put me off watching the original which is so highly regarded I like cheap B movies but this is abysmal. Would not recommend.

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.

Though not nearly as well directed, well acted (or casted) or well written as Smokin' Aces, this movie is not too horrible to watch. It's got a decent story and progressing nicely, it's not too predictable (not much more than any other movie these days). Expecting not too much, I'm definitely not disappointed.

One thing bothered me more and more though: the enormously annoying, cheesy one-liners! First it was just agent Baker with the dumb-ass comments and group cheers, but then everybody was spouting bad one-liners!

Another thing that was a total letdown and seriously a SHAME for any self respecting artist in the movie industry: the "special effects". If intended as fake as they look: congratulations on a job well done. If not: OMG, Mr Director, did you even watch this movie yourself??

It's a solid 7, because in spite of the annoyances this movie was very watchable and entertaining. These days entertaining is all you can hope for. Not the very best "part two" ever, but most definitely somewhere in the top 20% (although I'm not sure that's saying much qualitatively).

Here is a very brief review of the first movie (or at least what i thought of it) - Brilliant. Plenty of action, developed characters, good story line, nicely paced and well directed and acted.

Here is a very brief review of this movie - terrible.

Why you ask? Mainly because it has nothing that the original movie had. Admittedly this film doesn't have the budget that the original had, but the way that it falls down could have been solved without further expense. The characters aren't developed in any way. I can't really explain this without adding spoilers, so i won't, but believe me, there is no recognition of ANY of the "new" assassins background or any story behind their assassination "style". Lazlo Soot (a returning character) isn't in any way as likable as in the original. His whole "human face mask" approach was very refreshing in the first film, but tired and used in this attempt. He adds very little in all. As for the Tremors? They just aren't the Tremors. Simple.

The action is average at best. Nothing special to report unfortunately. A lot of it just feels very rushed- cops get killed, one or two assassins get killed, more cops get killed. Unfortunately it all happens within 5 minutes, so there isn't even a chance for some of the assassins to even attempt getting to their target.

However, the story line does end out with a fairly OK twist, even if it is slightly far fetched. It gives reasoning behind the actions of the assassins and their "contracts". Not anything special though. So it's not all too bad i guess.

In a nutshell, I would recommend that you just go watch the first one again. There's a reason as to why this release is straight-to-video. This is only my opinion though, so by all means, give it a try. You might end up liking it more than i did :)

In the world of straight to DVD movies, you have to really be careful. Sure, you'll sometimes run into something that wins you over, but more often than not that's not the case. The same can rarely be said for straight to DVD sequels of movies that played in theaters. While there have been exceptions (the sequels for "Undisputed" for example), what you normally get is a cynical cash grab and nothing more. So, does the sequel to "Smokin' Aces" fit into the cynical cash grab category? Answer: Yes. Yes it does.

Walter Weed (Tom Berenger) is a desk jockey without much going on in his life. That is, until the FBI finds out that there's a plot to assassinate him. Among them are sexy Ariella Martinez (Martha Higareda), who has a unique way of dispatching villains, the tough as nails Finbar McTeague (Vinnie Jones), and the Neo-Nazi family the Tremors. So, why are they after him? Or is all as it seems?

To be fair, "Smokin' Aces 2" does have a game cast whose up for anything. Sure, it's not the high profile case of the original, but it's the best the straight to DVD market can get. The problem though, is that many of them feel underused. Sure, Jones and Higareda do a good job, but we aren't given much time to learn anything about them other than they had a thing going on, and the plot twist nearing the end. Speaking of which, said twist is just terrible on so many levels. There were complaints about the twist in the original movie, but that was nothing compared to the head smacker we get here. Hell, they would have almost gotten away with it if there was something there to care about.

That's the films biggest problem. There's nothing there. I know, it's a direct to DVD sequel, but it doesn't do anything to justify it's existence. Hell, it's obvious because it tries so many attempts at being subversive and edgy, but it tries way to hard in that case. There's nothing I hate more than poor attempts at wackiness and edginess, and when that's all the movie has going for it, why should anybody care? The moment we got exploding circus clowns and a shootout set to the music of Evanescence, I just about gave up.

In the world of direct to DVD sequels, you can certainly do worse than this. That's no excuse for the movie though, which is nothing more than a heartless trudge of excess and pointlessness that offers very little to the table.

I don't want to be rude by actually providing this film with a rating and seeing that I haven't a choice I give it no more than a 1.

Smokin' Aces was in interesting film. It has a good premise that, even though it isn't remarkable or original made sense for the universe that contained it. A mob snitch is going under witness protection and a large group of assassins are hired to exterminate him. He name is Buddy "Aces" Israel, hence the title "Smokin' Aces".

This film on the other hand ignores the fact that the first film even exists at all and therefore, immediately the title "Smokin' Aces 2" doesn't make sense. That's the first reason behind this film's epic failure. The next step in failing is that this was produced as a telefilm and was shot entirely with a digital camera. Not a very good either because with a digital format and not a enough lighting the final product is out of focus most of the time that the camera actually moves. That's just a technical aspect and during the last half an hour of the film it was out of focus during many parts and seemed to be shot with 30 frames per second (fps); the proper way to shoot any movie that contains an actual budget is with 24fps.

The story here is that an FBI veteran is under witness protection for reasons made unclear until the end of the film and seeing that the first film contained a plot twist that was kind of predictable, this film had to have one, also. The teleplay's awful so I predicted the ending's twist within the first 10 minutes. Once again, a group of assassins must kill a man and this time he's locked tightly underground and is very secured.

The first film provided audiences with a barrage of strange but intriguing characters for its assassins, but every one of them had a specific reason for wanting to collect the reward money. This film does not go that far. It's just assassins vs. the FBI and it's mostly boring.

The action is violent and hectic, when there is any and while the special effects are decent (lots of a bullet hits and blood packs) the CGI is atrociously awful. All explosions are transparent and physics doesn't exist in this film in any way, shape, or form.

To sum it up, even for a made for TV movie this movie sucks. It's pacing is, probably deliberately slow and its assassins are pathetic caricatures. The twist at the end can be seen a mile away and makes little to no sense and the performances are pretty bad. Again, even for a telefilm.

Skip this movie if you liked the first one and even if you didn't, or hadn't seen it skip it anyway. It's not even worth a free rental at your local Blockbuster Video.

D.