The Assassin

Watched this as I was told it was good by a friend. May need to reconsider my friends.

The opening few minutes combine very poor acting, bad fight choreography, very questionable directing decisions and childish staging to make what is supposed to be an exciting opener into an amateur mess.

The plot gets no better with scripting and storylines that are forced and obvious. The acting is generally poor (sorry guys) but I don't blame them entirely as the whole thing is really difficult to get into. Wooden characters, bad writing etc.

I'd avoid. There are much better assassin/spy programmes. Don't waste your time.

Having consumed all six episodes of 'The Assassin' (2025) in a single viewing, I can confidently assert the reliability of my assessment. A common sentiment among lower-rated reviews suggests an expectation of a more somber tone, akin to 'Dept. Q,' perhaps with a touch of humor and tones of cursing/F-word. However, 'The Assassin' distinguishes itself from such comparisons, save for the presence of dry British humor, which may not resonate universally out of the UK. While I also totally enjoyed 'Dept. Q,' finding it comparable to 'Sherlock Holmes,' 'The Assassin' aligns more closely with the unserious nature of 'The Black Doves,' released during the Christmas season.

What's undeniable is that Keeley Hawes absolutely shines as a retired assassin obliged to get back into murky business, continually delivers compelling moments amidst a narrative that embraces its own absurdity. The series thus eschews seriousness in favor of an entertaining and unpredictable experience, balancing humorous dialogue and actions with intense action sequences; even if those sequences occasionally stretch the boundaries of the believability and the established rules of espionage/assassin thrillers. While Freddie Highmore's performance occasionally falters, particularly in portraying stronger reactions to early violence as he's still unfamiliar with lethal territory (I firmly believe he's still stuck in "The Good Doctor" phase - since he played the role for so long that he could've easily obtained an MD degree and even further pursued a PhD in medicine - that he should take the very much needed break to try to get out of the character), his dedication is certainly quite evident.

Ultimately, I recommend viewers approach 'The Assassin' with an open mind, appreciating it for its intended nature rather than preconceived expectations.

Love Keeley Hawes & Freddie Highmore in everything they've done, such talented actors. In this they are also fabulous but the script & some of the cast let them down. It went from a fun farce to what felt like a dated daytime soap opera. Not great & certainly not interesting enough to make me want to watch more than the 1st episode & that was painful.

This is a brilliant spoof assassin/spy comedy. The actors all play it totally straight and the result is hilarious. The plot is spectacularly convoluted and the characters all hide who they really are. There are twists and turns in abundance. A truly joyous spy romp. Grab some snacks and sit back for a great romp.

We watched the first episode three nights ago. Just baffled by the whole thing but decided it could only get better. MIstake..

A word of advice for those who are tempted to persist with this. Do what I did: use an AI to lookup something like "Summary of events in Episode 2 of The Assassin". Read it, and then repeat for episodes 3, 4, 5, and 6. By doing so, you can save yourself the misery of being hooked in by episode 1 and then feeling you have to binge watch the remaining episodes in order to find out what happens. I'm glad I did after we watched episode 2 (which was no better than episode 1 by the way) as I managed to get the remaining plot details without having to endure a further 4 hours of pain watching the remaining 4 episodes. Based on the summaries, we didn't miss much by giving up on this series.

Worth pointing out that even the AI I used implied strongly that it was confused about what the program was about!

Is it supposed to be a comedy or is it supposed to be a serious action drama? We couldn't tell.

I hadn't read reviews here on IMDB before watching and have only just read through the first 16 that are currently posted and was relieved to see that there are as many confused about it as we were.

Some seem to genuinely think it's supposed to be a comedy and that those not used to British humour just aren't getting it. We've watched loads of British tongue-in-cheek type series and The Assassin is't like anything we've seen out of the UK before. I'm not convinced.

Others think it is so bad that it is just coming across as being intended as a comedy. Again, not too sure.

We just think it's just not working.

If it's supposed to be a comedy, then the comedy is missing even as a "black comedy". If it's supposed to be a serious action type drama, then it's hilarious beause it misses the mark entirely.

What struck me after watching is that it SHOULD have been done as an obvious comedy but wasn't and it is so bizarre that it is coming across as a failed comedy.

I love Keeley Hawes and I have to say this isn't her fault. Maybe she didn't know how to play it. Did anybody tell her it was a comedy if that was the intention? I think ot.

It occurred to me that it needed someone with a Bruce Willis type sense of wry humour to play the role (keeping it as a female obviously). Maybe a John McClane type of character who finds himself in a serious situation but is wisecracking his (or her in this case) way through it. That might have worked. But not Keeley playing it absolutely straight and us wondering what it is supposed to be.

Can I add, too, that the scene with the sniper in episode 1 was just so ridiculous that it came across as almost funny. Funny without being funny or intended to be funny. A sniper tries to take out Keeley Hawes character. They can't of course, because otherwise there wouldn't be a series. Shot after shot misses the mark and I think with all the reloading we are talking maybe 30 bullets in all but just guessing. But the thing is this: bullets that miss Keeley don't just bounce off the ground or other obstacles vaguely in her vicinity. This professional snipers manages to hit bystanders square in the heart and killing all of them even if they are nowhere near where Keeley is hiding. His assignment was to take out Keeley; why is hitting everybody except Keeley? How can you not laugh at this sort of nonsense? How can writers expect audience to believe this is serious when this is the way something is written and so ludicrouse.

Confused? Well we certainly were. So we gave up after episode 2 proved to be no better.