Hidden Assassin

It's really hard to believe that this movie was directed by the same person who directed FIRST BLOOD. I was expecting top-grade action, especially since Lundgren was the star, but the movie is a real bore. Oh, there are shootings, hand-to-hand combat, and chases, but all of this is presented to come across as just as unexciting as the rest of the movie. The script is (mostly) unsurprising, containing a major plot twist that you'll see coming from the first few minutes of the movie. (Though I admit the eventual plot turn concerning the female lead did give me a surprise.) Movie is also badly photographed, with muddy colors throughout. Lundgren tries, but is pretty overwhelmed, and the best performance turns out to be by John Ashton, playing Lundgren's buddy. Recommended only to die-hard (and very forgiving) Lundgren fans.

****SPOILERS**** After the Cuban Ambassador to the UN is assassinated in New York City the CIA, with the help of Cuban government officials, trace the killer to be the daughter of an exiled anti-Castro Cuban living in the Czech Republic who's a professional assassin named Simone Rosset and using the name of Yanna Natova, Maruschka Detmers.

With a major meeting by the Cuban and US government set in Prague to re-establish diplomatic relations between those two countries it's expected that Simone will disrupt the meeting by trying to kill both the Cuban and US officials expected to sign that agreement.

Sending US Marshall Michael Dane, Dolph Lundgren, to arrest Simone and bring her back to the US to stand trial for the Cuban Ambassador's murder Michael is met by his long time friend and US government agent Alex Reed, John Aston, to help him in finding and arresting Simone.

After tracking her down during a number of car and train chases as well as a dangerous jump, from a high bridge into the Danube River, that almost killed both Michael and Simone, Michael finally captures her. Later as Michael is about to take Simone to the Prague airport to fly with her back to the US, to be tried for murder, Simone tells him that she never was in New York the day of the Ambassador's killing and never left the Czech Republic in five years; Simone also tells Michael that she'll never live to stand trial. Simone's prediction comes sadly true when she's assassinated in a Prague hotel room after Michael saved her life from a number of assassin attempts that he foiled.

One of Dolph's better efforts showing that he could act as well as haul and kick butt that he's so well known for. Realizing, too late to save Simone's life, that it's evident that there are those in higher ups in both the US and Cuban governments who don't want that signing to take place Michael goes to the signing ceremony in Prague to prevent it from being disrupted by the real assassins of the Cuban UN Ambassador.

Great action scenes that leave you black and blue just from watching them with Dolph Lundgren at his best as the reluctant hero who breaks with his superiors, to stop the very assassination that he was assigned by them to prevent, who think that the real killer is already dead.

Maruschka Detmers is the biggest surprise in the movie by being every bit as good as Dolph in the action scenes but also touches the heart-strings with her both sensitive as well as tragic performance as the doomed Simone. Tremendous final under the streets and on top of the buildings of picturesque Prague with Dolph Lundgren, bloody T-shirt and all, saving the day by putting the bad guys on ice as well as single-handedly restoring US-Cuban relations for the first time in some forty years.

I feel bad writing this review, since my far-from-perfect rating mostly reflects my disappointment in having expected a different kind of movie. Honestly, HIDDEN AGENDA is a pretty good film from Dolph Lundgren's early DTV career...if you're looking for a spy thriller. The film is directed by the maker of FIRST BLOOD and co-written by one of the scribes behind STATE OF PLAY. Contained within a low-budget sphere, the quality is there, but it just doesn't deliver the kind of thrills I want to see from the Swedish Superman. This is definitely a movie you'll have to check out for yourself to get the full gist of it, unless you're looking for a genuine action film like me - then you can save your money.

The story: CIA agent Michael Dane (Lundgren) is assigned to apprehend the prime suspect in an ambassador's murder (Maruschka Detmers) in Prague and bring her to America, not knowing that he's about to be thrown into a web political intrigue and treachery.

Considering that the film was made for a slim $7 million and as a cooperative effort among five countries, it looks admirably good. There's one embarrassing instance early in the picture where the filmmakers had to fudge a laser pointer, but otherwise, director Ted Kotcheff's capabilities shine through - not only by successfully filming scenes you wouldn't expect to find in a cheap film, but also by making the East European filming location fun to look at. Authentic Czech is spoken throughout, which is pretty nice, and the film maintains a sense of gravity and importance that'd be exceedingly rare in Lundgren's subsequent career.

The movie isn't completely without good action. There's even a segment I particularly like, wherein Lundgren has a shootout with a sniper while clinging to the ledge of a tall building. However, the problem is that very little of the action is the kind that I like. It's almost all shootouts and car chases, which leaves exceedingly little room for martial arts. Lundgren once claimed to have injured himself before he could complete all of the scenes, which might explain the lack of more hand-to-hand action, but it's still disappointing. Additionally, however good the writing might detail the progression of the whodunit-style mystery, I have to take it to point for its truly forced romance between our two leads. Apparently Dolph's charms are so great in this picture that not even a lesbian character can withstand him.

For most fans, I'd imagine the movie is at least worth a look, unless you're on the same page as me and would miss the almost-nonexistent fisticuffs.

I got it because I'm a Maruschka Detmers fan, and I wasn't disappointed in her part, however limited it was in showcasing her talents. I didn't take this movie seriously, and I'll bet the actors had fun making this movie.

The scenery and location were very impressive, the interaction between the main characters was good, with a touch of (unintended?) comedy throughout. Some of the scenes were unbelievable, but that just added to the feeling that you couldn't take this seriously as an action-adventure movie. For example, how could Michael pass by all the security points, evil bad guys pursuing him unscathed? If it isn't taken seriously, well that's the fun of it.

I had never seen Dolph Lundgren act before, and was comparing him to Arnold... both are hard workers.

The story line is this movie's weakest point, along with a few minor characters who obviously were put in the movie for appearance but no acting ability whatsoever.

Overall, I liked it and after repeated viewings, I still enjoy it.

At the beginning, there is a prologue that explains the following: If a foreign national commits a crime on U. S. soil, the U. S. government reserves the right to capture that suspect anywhere in the world and return him or her to the United States for prosecution. Jurisdiction over this activity falls to the U. S. Department of Justice's Marshall Service. The Cuban ambassador has been assassinated in New York. A hired female killer is the prime suspect in the murder. She allegedly shoots the ambassador to the U. N. and escapes back to her home base in Praga. To prevent another terrorist attack during the US-Cuba summit to be held in Prague, Czech Republic, the CIA sends Michael Dane (Dolph Lundgren), one of its best federal agents to his homeland. It seems that Simon Rosset (Maruschka Detmers) is the executioner, she's a professional assassin who is now co-owner of a restaurant along with Marta (Assumpta Serna). Michael Dane's partner in the mission is his CIA friend Alex Reed (John Ashton). The suspected killer is a lesbian restaurant owner, Simone Rosset, but Michael starts to doubt she is the murderer, that's why she's long retired and is being set up. But as usual everything is much more complicated than it seemed at first; and therefore Dane has to work much more with his brain than with his muscles to survive. Seduction is a deadly weapon!

A thriller with nonstop action and noisy chases from beginning to end. It deals with the two protagonists, Dolph Lundgren and John Ashton, who become more and more involved in a complex plot of political conspiracy, betrayal, violence, and plot twists. So the two agents are assigned to prevent another attack of the terrorists at the US-Cuba-summit in Prague . Along the way the duo attempts to find the truth amid lots of double-crosses, and pursuits. Resulting to be an uneven thriller with its ups and downs, which is acceptable enough, but does not delivers the necessary tension and intrigue in its action scenes. Stars Dolph Lundgren who gives his mediocre and ordinary acting as a CIA agent gets caught up in political intrigue after he gets brought in to solve the murder of a Cuban ambassador. While Maruschka Detmers is supposedly an assassin who shot an ambassador, providing a passable acting. Other actors include John Ashton as the sympathetic CIA colleague, Gavan O'Herlihy as the CIA boss and Spanish players as Assumpta Serna and Simon Andreu as a nasty Cuban agent.

This routine motion picture was averagely directed by canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff, he provides many action scenes but it doesn't make sense in any case. His film career started in England with Tiara Tahiti (1962), a social comedy, Life at the Top (1965) and Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969). Kotcheff returned to Canada in 1972 to make The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974). This film, thought to be one of the best Canadian films ever made, won the Golden Bear First Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Kotcheff also directed Fun with Dick and Jane (1977), starring Jane Fonda and George Segal and Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978), starring Jacqueline Bisset and George Segal. His next film, Wake in Fright (1971), was made in Australia. Kotcheff got great success on action cinema ( First blood, Uncommon valor, The shooter) and comedy (Switching channels, Fun with Dick and Jane ). Nevertheless , today he only realizes TV episodes (Law and order, Family of cops, Red shoes diaries). 'Hidden assassin' rating : 5/10. Acceptable and passable But only for the wonderful sightseeing of Prague, where most of the action takes place, beautifully photographed by Spanish cinematographer Fernando Argüelles. If you're a fan of Dolph Lundgren, you'll want to see this entry in his already somewhat monotonous action films.