the audience applauded

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Assassin Robert Rath (Sylvester Stallone) arrives at a funeral to kill a prominent mobster, only to witness rival hired gun Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas) complete the job for him. Rath decides to take one last job and then return to civilian life but that final contract sees him falling for his target(Julianne Moore) and then becoming a marked man himself.Not one of my favourite Stallone films, its a bit lame actually and that's taking into account its age too. There were just too many dumb things to let go -the gun hidden in the cast at the funeral (like that's not obvious) Stallone's magic sandwich that he keeps taking bites out of but never chews or swallows, hiding behind a gravestone in plain sight of the mobs of Day of the Dead people that somehow don't see them. Maybe I just took this too seriously? I enjoyed it more as it moved along, I guess because the action picks up. Stallone does a decent enough job and I suppose he's meant to be some kind of anti-hero but that aspect never really comes through. A young Julianne Moore plays Electra, who is a high tech hacker/crazy cat lady/voyeur. Weird.As for Antonio Banderas he's c-c-crazy but in a good way. Totally over the top and insane, fun to watch cat and mouse-ing his way after Stallone. The ending climax is decent especially the bank scene with Antonio waiting (all day) to take Rath out and then the show down in the crumbling building. 2/17/16

Continuing my plan to watch every Sly Stallone movie in order, I come to 1995's AssassinsPlot In A Paragraph: Sylvester Stallone plays the number one Hit-man in the world, Robert Rath (don't worry, since it's Sly, he is a Hit-man with morals and principals. He only kills bad guys) who is about to retire, when an ambitious young Hit-man Miguel Bain (Antonio Banderas) appears, with plans on being number one.As so often is the case in the early to mid 90's, Sly is totally over shadowed by his co star. Antonio Banderas steals this movie from Sly, whose character is as boring and bland, as he is ridiculously named!! Like The Specialist before it, he sleepwalks his way through the movie collecting his $15 million paycheck. It's another miss for Sly for me on this one, and truthfully, I'm not quite sure how this missed, a movie about feuding Hit-man, starring action legend Sly Stallone and upcoming star Antonio Banderas, written by the Wachowski bros (Matrix, V For Vendetta) directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) but somehow it does. Despite it having its moments and some impressive set pieces It feels overly long and slow. It has a few it holes, and the number one Hit-man in the world is a pretty poor shot when it comes to killing the number 2 Hit-man in the world, as is the number two, when it comes to taking down the number one. Killing anyone else?? Never miss. But they can't hit each other. It's better than The Specialist and Judge Dredd, but not up to the standards of Cliffhanger and Demolition Man

Released in 1995, Richard Donner's "Assassins" is a slick action flick starring Sylvester Stallone as Rath, a professional hit man who wants out of the business after decades of killing. Antonio Banderas plays his young rival and Julianne Moore a computer whiz with whom Rath teams up. Anatoli Davydov is also on hand.At a 132 minutes, "Assassins" is too long for what it is – a wall-to-wall action movie where someone gets shot every 1-2 minutes, at least during the numerous ultra-violent sequences. This would be alright if the story and characters were interesting enough to warrant such length, but they're not. Banderas shines in the role of Bain, the zealous murderous psycho, but being a "murderous psycho" means he will get no sympathy from the viewer, otherwise he wouldn't be a murderous psycho. The characters played by Stallone and Moore are more sympathetic, but there's not enough detail to really care about them. Beyond that, the plot is convoluted even while the film is snappy. Despite the thrills, the story's just not engrossing enough to give a higher grade, but it's nowhere near as bad in this regard as, say, "The Mummy Returns." In other words, "Assassins" moderately keeps your attention.And then there's the pile-up of implausibilities that are too easy to spot, like how does Bain not get seriously wounded by a bus while hanging out the window of a taxi? How does he emerge virtually unscathed from a fall from a third-story window after a great explosion? Even if the table protected his head and mid-section, what about his fingers and legs that weren't protected? How did he NOT break something from the awkward fall? Why does Rath blow valuable seconds looking for a dumpster to throw a suitcase with a ticking bomb? If you knew a sniper was waiting for you outside a bank, wouldn't you use the back door and then maybe surprise the assassin from behind? If someone pulls a gun on you, like at the end with Bain and Rath, wouldn't you automatically shoot first and ask questions later? Lastly, the whole set-up at the end with one character waiting in the bank, another as a sniper in an abandoned hotel, and the other outside informing the one in the bank is the height of contrived.I realize implausible and contrived things happen in all action flicks, but the really good ones are able to get away with it because the filmmakers take the extra time to work out the kinks and make a truly compelling picture, like "Terminator 2," and not merely string together a bunch of "exciting" action scenes with contrivances galore. Still, "Assassins" is worth checking out if you like the cast and are in the mood for a polished action/thriller.The film was shot in Seattle & Everett, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and San Juan, Puerto Rico.GRADE: C+

Antonio Banderas is outstanding in this movie and no one has put this in his resume. He was great!! He stole the show from Stallone. Great actor love his craziness!! Antonio kicked butt!! One of the best action movies and never mentioned as a top rated movie. Beats a lot of movies these days. Today is nothing like yesterday!! I would love to see Stallone and Banderas in another movie together there was great chemistry. I hope there are other viewers who agree with me on this. I'm hoping to stop writing now but the guidelines saying i need more text! i hope they will now take this or i will scream!Okay i'm screaming now i have nothing else to write-hello. OMG finally!!!