Preposterous Action and Orgy of Glorified Violence.

Rating: 3/10 (30 June 2008)

A slick looking hyper-adrenaline-rush contrived-flick with an absurdity quotient 15 points off the credibility scale, may entertain some whom may still believe that Mad Max was a real person, and that Santa Claus, The Tooth Fairy, and Wrestlmania are real.
Yesh there are fine performances by McAvoy and Mr. Freeman, Jolie looks fine and sultry in a smoky come hither-I'm gonna beat your ass then apply my considerable lippage to yours-kinda way.
But the general premise of a "Fraternity" of Assassins and there naturally gifted enhanced physical abilities wears wispy thin in the opening sequence, where an Assassin can manage to pump up his heart rate and adrenaline so he can run and propel himself through significantly sturdy Office Building plate glass window-with out having to blink or close his eyes-then able to still have enough momentum to streak-in mid air-across almost to another building while shooting pistols and automatic weapons accurately, before losing a few feet of elevation and crash through another plate glass Office building.
The movie attempts to get clever with the plot and doesn't work with any believability at the end, and actually caused me to groan out loud.
Of course this movie has a steady stream of well crafted action sequences that will surely keep most entertained; well those who secretly wish they could be an Assassin with Angelina Jolie as their personal trainer.
The movie manages to directly insult it's audience towards the end, and I was like, "I am no such thing", well that's not exactly what I was thinking but you get the drift.
There is also a laughable attempt at visual allegory towards the end, hinting at the "oh what a tangled web we weave..etc, etc, blah, blah." I don't mind suspending my disbelief on a movie where there is some attempt to explain the unbelievable premise, such as "Ironman" "The Incredible Hulk" etc. but this flick I just couldn't hang with.