Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball

Plot synopsis:
Walter Weed is an unassuming desk jockey at the FBI when the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him. Mysterious Hal Leuco has hired several assassins to take out Weed on April 19 at exactly 3:00am. These include Ariella Martinez, a femme fatale who kills her victims with exotic poisons; Finbar McTeague who is also known as "The Surgeon", who brutally tortures his victims; the Southern Tremor family consisting of father Fritz and children; Lester, Kaitlyn, Baby Boy, and finally Lazlo Soot, from the first film, who is a master-of-disguise assassin.
An FBI unit, led by Special Agent Zane Baker secures Weed in a Chicago lounge called the "Little Jazz After Hours Club." The bar, run by Special Agent Malcolm Little has a bunker deep below it and several lines of defense stand between the assassins and Weed, locked down inside it with Baker and Agents Nicholas and Redstone. On the surface, Agent Dominic Dumare, Little, Abrego, Salerno, and an entire unit of FBI agents act as patrons or staff at the bar. The assassins enter the city in separate manners, all ready to meet the 3am deadline. McTeague and Martinez meet in the bar while the Tremors kill the agents on the roof across from the bar and prepare to storm the bar. Soot kills Agent Dumare in his hotel room and disguises himself as him, allowing him access to the bunker.
Eight minutes before the deadline, McTeague and Martinez working together create a hostage situation where McTeague holds Martinez hostage, creating a Mexican standoff between the assassins and the FBI agents. The standoff escalates when the Tremors fire a clown with a bomb strapped to him through the bar doors. A shootout ensues; however, the agents and the assassins are unable to kill each other. Martinez breaks cover and kills some of the agents including Salerno, before being shot and wounded. McTeague takes her to a closet where he cradles her as she dies. At this point, the Tremors break into the bar, firing heavy machine guns and killing all of the agents save for Little who escapes. McTeague, angry at Martinez's death fights Baby Boy, attaching an explosive to him before being gunned down by Lester and Fritz; the explosive that explodes within the body then kills Baby Boy.
Meanwhile, Soot has escaped the firefight and still disguised as Dumare, convinces Abrego to let him into the secure area. He then double-crosses Abrego and kills him. Before he dies, Abrego manages to pull off Soot's mask, ruining his disguise. The Tremors breach the elevator and kill the last remaining agents outside the bunker. Soot takes an agent hostage and threatens to kill him unless Baker opens the bunker door, but Baker refuses. At the same time, the Tremors fire a rocket-propelled grenade at the door, which Soot narrowly escapes.
Kaitlyn, who has penetrated the tunnels next to the bunker, blows a hole in it and starts firing on the agents inside, trying to kill Weed. Nicholas is killed protecting him just before Baker shoots and kills Kaitlyn. With only two minutes to go, Weed suddenly tries to open the bunker door and reveals he has C4 hidden under his wheelchair and is rigged to a dead man switch. Redstone tries to shoot Weed but is wounded by Baker who attempts to talk Weed down. Weed says that he must die to kill the assassins, who have committed heinous acts against America and that by blowing himself up, Weed will be hailed as a patriotic hero for killing the assassins when he dies.
Realising Weed will not back down, Baker drags the wounded Redstone to the "spider trap", a hole in the bunker's floor, which can be used to safeguard people from the bunker collapsing. Weed detonates the C4, destroying both the bunker and the bar. Baker is unable to get Redstone into the spider trap and can only save himself. Fritz is critically wounded by the bomb and begs for help from Lester, who coldly kills him for abusing him for years.
Not long after, Baker emerges from the spider trap and comes out of the ruins of the bar to find emergency services securing the area, with only Little and Baker surviving out of the FBI agents. Baker is approached by Special Agent Anthony Vejar who asks him if he saw Weed die, telling him that Vejar's unit believes that Weed was also Hal Leuco who works for a CIA elite black ops unit. With a combined career in both the FBI and CIA, Weed/Leuco was able to access information about the assassins and used them for covert missions over the years, allegedly for patriotic interest.
Posing as Leuco, he hired the assassins to kill Weed so he could gather them all in one place and have them kill each other or be killed by the FBI. Baker realises that Weed/Leuco is still alive after Vejar mentions that Hal Leuco is short for Haliaeetus leucocephalus, bald eagle's scientific name, which was part of a playing card set Weed played with in the bunker. Weed/Leuco is shown to be alive and gets into a car. As he drives off, however, he is shot and killed by Baker who then walks away. Lester Tremor and Lazlo Soot are also shown to have escaped the blast and walk away from the scene.

Tags: violence, murder, flashback

Review:
I really, really liked Smokin Aces, and i was excited to go watch this sequel, featuring my favorite UK actor Vinnie Jones, who always gives violent movies this little extra just be his appearance.As so often with sequels, this one just doesn't cut it - it is nowhere near as well-acted, intense and spectacular as the original.The story features some of the assassins from part 1, but they have been cramped into the plot in an awkward way this time - without giving away too much, it's rather unbelievable.
Their methods seem dull after watching part 1, and the addition of the new assassins doesn't make up for that at all.Bad, b-movie style acting and extremely bad CGI (explosions!) take up the remaining 1.5 hours, until the foreseeable-from-minute-1 plot-twist kicks in.Loads of plot holes, bad dialogs and unexplained sudden character-developments makes me rate this 3/10 unfortunately.TLDR: Don't bother, grab it once its out on DVD.
If that's not your thing, skip this.Secondly, this is called Smokin Aces 2, but from its apparent direct-to-DVD release status, you can expect that Jeremy Piven and other big cast members like Ray Liotta didn't show up.
Tom Berenger is easily the best, as he plays the target of a large assassination contract for his head.The movie is a sequel, but it has nothing to do with the Buddy Aces Israel storyline (though his name is mentioned once, I guess just to get SOME sort of movie-verse continuity).
Good but not as great as the first one.Vinnie Jones is as always a crazy bad-ass, an other old-school bad-ass in this movie is Tom Berenger from The Substitute, this movies sex-appeal comes from the two beautiful girls; Autumn Reeser aka Kaitlin 'AK-47' Tremor and Martha Higareda that both acted good.The movie is about Walter Weed who's getting hunted down by a bunch of assassins.
Walter Weed is an FBI analyst who in the start of the movie is told by some FBI people that there's some criminals out to get him.After this the FBI brings him to a safe location where they are attacked by all of the assassins.The movie has no what so ever meaningful dialogs but the action is god.It's full of fun action, beautiful girls and meaningless violence.
First of all and most of all, this movie was shot entirely for TV - lousy camera work, very bad acting, bad script, irregularly paced and silly few plot twists.Characters are not developed, special effects (of e.g. explosives) look highly unrealistic as if the budget was cut in the middle of production.Also closer to the end of the film the scriptwriters inserted a three minutes needless love story which ended quite abruptly.Don't waste your time on this even if you liked the original movie - I couldn't make myself finish watching it..
Well, other than the one assassin and the fact that the FBI is the main government agency involved.So, standing on its own, the best that could be said of 'Smokin' Aces II - Assassins' Ball' is that it is mildly entertaining if you like movies of this genre.By that I mean lots of gunfire, blood, gore and a few hot women.Otherwise, the script is weak, the plot weaker, and the acting...well, it can barely be called acting.By itself, 'Smokin' Aces II' rates four stars at best.
I bet he was very well behaved on set this time.Bizarrely though, this had one of the best last ten seconds of a movie I've ever seen, which is all that stopped me giving it a rating of one but by then the film was beyond redemption and it was wasted.
I feel like most of the votes for Smokin' Aces 2 were given without an actual viewing of the movie.
One can guess the superb and eclectic cast from the original was probably not easy to secure and so, in an attempt to cash in, they came up with a pitiful excuse of a story which tries to keep the theme of assassins all after the same target.
As for director Pesce, this is without a doubt the last movie from this guy I ever watch.I'm giving it a 3 solely because of the few entertaining bits they sucked from the original..
All in all it's still a decent / fun movie, could have been much better (like so many big-budget releases) but still manages to be fairly entertaining..
Though not nearly as well directed, well acted (or casted) or well written as Smokin' Aces, this movie is not too horrible to watch.
First it was just agent Baker with the dumb-ass comments and group cheers, but then everybody was spouting bad one-liners!Another thing that was a total letdown and seriously a SHAME for any self respecting artist in the movie industry: the "special effects".
That's just a technical aspect and during the last half an hour of the film it was out of focus during many parts and seemed to be shot with 30 frames per second (fps); the proper way to shoot any movie that contains an actual budget is with 24fps.The story here is that an FBI veteran is under witness protection for reasons made unclear until the end of the film and seeing that the first film contained a plot twist that was kind of predictable, this film had to have one, also.
Once again, a group of assassins must kill a man and this time he's locked tightly underground and is very secured.The first film provided audiences with a barrage of strange but intriguing characters for its assassins, but every one of them had a specific reason for wanting to collect the reward money.
the FBI and it's mostly boring.The action is violent and hectic, when there is any and while the special effects are decent (lots of a bullet hits and blood packs) the CGI is atrociously awful.
The original Smoking Aces was a okay action movie, but had a over the top violence which was not enjoyable.
Looks like the whole crew was sick and didn't care for making a good action movie.
Wow what a dog of a movie - I guess they bought the rights to the title but this as far from a sequel as it's possible to get.The only good thing here are the actor who runs the jazz club and Vinnie Jones who really deserves better (Sorry but having breasts and a push-up bra doesn't not make either of the two female leads any better or anymore watchable).I like cheesy assassin films - the Tournament, Wanted, Shoot'Em Up, because they are ironic and self-mocking: this, this has none of that - honestly whatever camel's behind it came shooting out of it should return again ashamed.This really is a by the numbers no imagination just recycle what you think will sell marketing ploy.
Plenty of action, developed characters, good story line, nicely paced and well directed and acted.Here is a very brief review of this movie - terrible.Why you ask?
Unfortunately it all happens within 5 minutes, so there isn't even a chance for some of the assassins to even attempt getting to their target.However, the story line does end out with a fairly OK twist, even if it is slightly far fetched.
This Movie Was Exceptionally Bad. This move came on sky movies, and there had seemed to be nothing else on, so i decided, as i absolutely adored the original first one, which was brilliant, that this one couldn't be much worse, so i watched it, and i can honestly tell you, this movie was horrifically terrible, the acting was stiff and heartless, only known actors were Vinnie Jones and it was almost unbelievably unbearable The action sequences were terrible, looks like they were done in imovie, explosions looked unrealistic, the storyline was terrible and the director was inadequate.
however, i "Would" recommend this film if it was being used as a punishment, or as torture.I would just like to stress how unbearably awful this movie was, no words can truly describe how bad it is..
All of those things are lost in this movie.Smokin' Aces 2 is just such a crappy direct-to-DVD-release.
Sure, Jones and Higareda do a good job, but we aren't given much time to learn anything about them other than they had a thing going on, and the plot twist nearing the end.
The owner of the club and trumpet player of the band is also an FBI agent.Going after the money are assorted brilliant killers- a hot Latin chick, a family of rednecks, a master of disguise and a meticulous Vinnie Jones character.
Autumn Reeser is very watchable though.Overall, an action movie that's a lot of fun to see and with a smart story..
Don't get me wrong, I have seen the first movie a long time ago, but have since forgotten almost all of it - and that helps a lot.If you watch this film as a stand alone, and not as sequel/prequel, it's good, really good.
I loved how all the assassins were introduced from the present time line into many intricate flashback sequences.Tom Berenger played the unassuming FBI retiree well and delivered one brilliant performance after another.I enjoyed the new assassins especially Vinnie Jones and Martha Higareda.
They made a dynamic duel and wished that they were on screen longer.PJ PESCE pleasingly intertwined the many genres of Action, Comedy, Suspense, Crime and Mystery well in this complex cast of characters.I look forward to seeing more of his movies and hope he is wise to cast Vinnie and Martha again..
You know the players, you know the plot and you know the target.If you've seen the original big budget release Smokin' Aces back in 2006 then you know what to expect, over the top action and big explosions.
Indeed you get this with Smokin' Aces 2 but in a smaller dose, which isn't a bad thing as to me the original was sometimes too over the top action wise and you felt like you didn't get a breather to re-focus your eyes.In Smokin' Aces 2 you've got some wiggle room, you don't feel its as rushed even as the build up to the climax is quite enjoyable really and funny also.
Overall: The Good: Good acting, not great but watchable, good action sequences, not too rushed, some good dialogue moments between charactersThe Bad:Too shortIts a good film, really its about just blocking out your perceptions of it prior to watching it, and having an unbiased view of it..
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins Ball is a cheap direct to DVD cashing in on the name, quick and dirty film.
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball is not the worst movie there is, although i allege the people affiliated with making it of trying very hard.
It though is the worst movie I have personally managed to watch completely (I saw it with a good friend and after the first minutes we made something like a bearing contest out of it) and no, I couldn't endure more than a few minutes of Vercingétorix, so yes it might be worse, but that is not the point.
Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball is just a very, very poorly made movie and I can't explain why there are people recommending or defending it or rating it with more than minimal one out of ten.
This film is blatantly trying to cash in on the first by reusing its essential mood and plot, but, just like with a tea bag, you only get weak tea the second time around.
This film's best hope is that it's viewers haven't seen the original, so that they don't know how bad it is, and, second, that they can legally smoke some excellent recreational marijuana (maybe this is somehow better when super stoned)..
This follow-up to 'Smokin' Aces' has no real connection to original film; it is however similar in that both involve a large number of rival assassins targeting one man.
As they wait for the appointed hour the FBI struggle to discover who placed the contract and why.I thought this film got off to a great start; I was immediately hooked by the question of just why anybody would want to kill an apparently unimportant FBI agent at such a specific time.
Overall I'd say that this wasn't as good as the original film but if you want some action you could do worse..
This has put me off watching the original which is so highly regarded I like cheap B movies but this is abysmal.
If the movie had a lot of shooting action, lots of characters and a bigger budget, the story was a mess and i really didn't like it.I picked this one, now who knows why, i guess because i kinda like Vinnie Jones, even if he is mostly hit or miss, as in sometimes he steal the show, other times he just has a small part and don't do much.I would say the movie is a lot better in term of story.
I found Smokin' Aces to be a not very memorable but entertaining action film which adequately combined a North American sensibility with the frantic British "neo-noir" style.Now, 3 years later, we have the obligatory straight-to-DVD sequel of that film, which is pretty mediocre and is very far from the original one.Part of the problem is that its screenplay thinks it is intelligent when it is in fact confusing; and the style chokes the substance.I do not have any proofs to endorse this theory, but I dare to speculate that Smokin' Aces: Assassins' Ball started as a cheap independent screenplay, and when an entrepreneur executive noticed the similarities with Smokin' Aces, he decided to adopt it as a sequel, rewriting what was necessary in order to emphasize the similarities and add some references which in some way relate both movies.The cast is irregular.Vinnie Jones, Tom Berenger and Autumn Reeser bring competent performances (and I liked to see the brief cameo from the great Ernie Hudson).However, the rest of the cast is absolutely insipid.The word "insipid" also applies to the direction from P.J. Pesce, who brings to the movie a frantic rhythm which plagiarizes the classic visual excesses from directors like Tony Scott, Guy Ritchie and Oliver Stone (the scenes with the Tremor family look like "outtakes" from Natural Born Killers).But the problem is that Pesce used those visual excesses in order to distract us from the fact that the screenplay is very weak, and that irritated me.And talking about the screenplay, there a few plot twists near the end; however, I found them to be forced and not very coherent.Smokin' Aces: Assassins' Ball is a very mediocre action film, which does not provoke any emotion or mystery, and it also has some implausible digital effects.So, needless to say, I do not recommend it..
I felt like I was watching something inspired by the filming style of Natural Born Killers, but not in a good way.
Overall this movie isn't half as clever as it tries to be but still is pretty watchable if you don't expect it to be like the original..
This character has become a recurring role for Vinnie, as much as I enjoy watching him perform this role, I can't but feel it is becoming tiresome, maybe he should be trying to push the boundary out if he wanting to achieve higher aspirations.The be all and end all of the film is there is no originality in the characters, the plot is lack lustred and just a reworked version of the prequel, with a less impressive cast and poor story and character development.
Don't worry about the GC, don't worry about the acting, don't worry about plot-holes, don't worry about what's changed since the first movie, just watch the movie for what it's worth: an over the top sequel to an action flick for guys (and maybe gals too).I gave this movie a 6/10.
Smokin' Aces 2 is everything I would have expected from a movie in this genre, It is fast paced, lots of action,killing,a little skin,and I thought a good plot.
I don't even no where to begin, since all parts of it were equally wrong.I'm no quitter, I watched the movie in it's entirety, the whole uninspired story, the sickeningly corny dialogs, the cheapest-possible special effects, the mind-boggling "twist" ending and everything.
Vinnie Jones is an amazing actor for a movie like this, but his character is unimpressive (his introcutory scene comes across as Saw-like almost) and his screen time is far too short.
AK-47 Tremor is possibly the worst movie character ever imagined, an annoying little woman whose sole moment in the film is when she is shot in the head (spoilers anyone?).
That and they contribute the most head-shakingly bad weapon ever: exploding clowns.The direction in the film tries hard to be like the first, involving lots of 24-style splitscreens, which can be cool at times but messy at others.
At least the one time someone goes into the fray guns blazing, things end badly, causing me immense laughter at the stupidity.Aces 2 has its entertaining moments, but overall its a mess of a movie that pales to the original.
all in all enjoyable film would have liked to seen the action on the big screen.
- I watched this movie twice on DVD and enjoyed it better the second time.
There was however some gibberish throughout the movie about some assassins, some random guy they want to kill, and the same random guy who turns out to be the bad guy in the end.
I've seen reviews mention that this is in homage to other films, but I'm more concerned about the result than the reason - and the result is not good.Plot: The first seemed to set you up for some really clever twist, only to finish with nothing really happening.
It's too bad the movie is even titled SA2 because it would have been a better film on its own.