Good idea lost in the noise

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

The first must-see film of the year.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Danny Dyer plays a hit-man called 'Jamie'... alright, I suppose there must be some hit men in the world called 'Jamie' - but for conjuring up a hard man character, let's just call him 'Marion'.Marion kills people. And looks very sleepy whilst he does it. He might be moody. He's possibly hung over. Who knows? He doesn't like talking much. Because he tells his 'bird' "I ain't one for talking" (or words to that effect. Presumably to add to his moodiness?) At one point, he senses imminent danger. How? A seagull flies overhead. Perhaps part of his moodiness is talking to animals and birds? Anyone, before this seagull can shout "Watch it you mugs!", a spray of bullets. And old Daniel's stood there like he's just remembered he's left his front door key at home.Meanwhile, The not-really-the Krays Brothers seem to think they're in the British answer to Michael Mann's 'Heat'. Maybe even 'Leon'. Unfortunately they come across as two blokes in a self-build borrowed from Grand Designs.Some scenes have bad audio. (For example, there's a 'confrontation' on a street at night. The ambiance would have you believe it was chucking out time on a Friday night - yet for all this drunken cavorting noise, there's hardly a person to be seen. Anywhere.) Some have bad camera work/direction. Every scene is poor translation of an even worse screenplay. Seriously: 'Marion' kills some bloke with a plastic bag (The police believe it's some nonce engaging in a bit of auto-erotic asphyxiation - and the way Dyer does it, it might as well be. And we know the police think he died due to auto-erotic asphyxiation because they tell us about 4 times).Dead bag man turns out to be the dad of some topless dancer who Dyer takes home for a bit of how's one's father. I've lost count the number of times this has happened to me. Assassinate someone. Pick up a tart. Oh no: They're related.And then the two brothers in the Grand Designs house start getting wobbly because SOMEONE might find out. But Dyer - the professional assassin that he is - can't kill the tart, because he's getting his leg over. (Presumably he's not had much recently) It's easy to poke at Dyer - he is miscast, relying on some 'smell the fart' acting, but he's not the weakest link here. The script is just a cut 'n paste from every crap gangster/hit-man movie there ever was. The direction, supporting cast... all not very good at all.

Assassin is a brilliant Brit-flick with a thrilling insight into the good old British underworld. If you like electrifying, hard hitting, British gangster films then it's definitely for you. Danny Dyer plays the role of 'Jamie', and as always he fills the role perfectly. I find in watching this you get a sense of involvement, like you're really there watching things unfold before your eyes. This sure to be classic crime thriller will have you on the edge of your seat as Dyer does whatever he can to save the woman he loves. Assassin sets itself apart from other Gangland films by not just having all the grit, guts and glory of a British Gangland film, but also having an underlying story of love and sacrifice. which I find will appeal to all audiences. Well written, Well directed, and well cast. Assassin is definitely one of the best homegrown indie's I've seen in a long while!

I've enjoyed other movies with Danny Dyer as the lead, but Assassin is different.Whilst the story had potential, it became both predictable, and laughable. Irritatingly, the audio mix became too heavy on the background music, to the point where speech couldn't be understood. This wasn't helped by Danny's predilection to mumble his words. The primary two female characters in the story were acting without any real or believable emotions. It's as if they were reading the script out loud for the first time.Laughably, the continuity was beyond belief with regards to Danny's Motorbike helmet, which switched from black to silver throughout the movie, and even within single riding sequences. Maybe the movie budget couldn't stretch to buy two black helmets if one was damaged during the filming.Then there's an unbelievable sequence where two thugs attempt to break-into Danny's hide-out. After Danny kills the thug who inexplicably appeared to be able to get upstairs in the small house, Danny then fires 10 shots into the other thug, at almost point blank range as he runs out of the hallway unaffected by being hit by 10 bullets.When Danny confronts Gary Kemp, Garry shoots, grazing Danny's leg, yet the large pane of glass behind Danny is unaffected.The ending is truly yawn inducing. This has to be one of the worst films I have endured.

Assassin stars Danny Dyer as Jamie, a professional assassin who is employed by two gangland brothers to get rid of a crooked politician who double crossed them. In the process he meets and falls in love with a stripper who turns out to be the daughter of the man he killed. As a result he now has to choose whether to eliminate her when she starts investigating her estranged father's death which was staged to look like an accidental death, or to protect her from his employers, the Alberts Brothers played by Gary and Martin Kemp. Whilst the first few minutes of the movie showed some promise it soon starts to drag and there are scenes which feel needlessly long and drawn out and that's a problem given that the movie is around 80 minutes long. The acting is nothing special although Dyer tries to do as well as he can given the material. The supporting actors and their characters do not have much to offer though and soon the movie slows down and becomes implausible, predictable and boring. The chemistry between the assassin and stripper is also lacking. As in many other films with similar subject matter there is a betrayal by the stripper's best friend (what a surprise-not!) and as a result there is a shoot out in the end. By then though you might not care. Overall this movie is simplistic and lacks a much better story and actors to play it out. There are many better movies out there and these would be preferable to watching this. A 3/10. Not the worst out there but not worth wasting time on either.