Blu-ray Review: SMOKIN' ACES 2: ASSASSINS BALL

Film Rating: 5/10
Bluray Rating: 8/10

Director: P.J. Pesce
Writers: Olatunde Osunsanmi, Olumide Odebunmi, Tom Abrams, P.J. Pesce, Joe Carnahan (story & characters)
Cast: Tom Berenger, Tommy Flanagan, Autumn Reeser, Vinnie Jones
Studio: Universal

SMOKIN’ ACES was one of the weirdest, coolest movies to come out in the past couple of years. I honestly never expected a prequel (or sequel), but now we have another crazy assassin-fueled story. But does this prequel film hold up to the original, or are they making a double dip?

The answer is a little bit of both. There is some creativity in this film and some pretty enjoyable moments, but overall the movie actually suffers because it is a SMOKIN’ ACES film. Not only that, but it suffers from being a prequel. One of the best parts about SMOKIN’ ACES is that you never knew who was safe or who would die, but there are assassins in SMOKIN’ ACES 2 that were in the first film. That means that they are guaranteed to survive, which kind of makes the film less fun.

Sadly, the movie looks incredibly cheap, which ultimately hurts it. Usually if special effects in a movie are bad, it wouldn’t bother me much, but the fact that there are so many explosions and other effects, it really shows. I obviously wasn’t expecting some high budget effects from this straight-to-video release, but I’ve seen better effects in television shows. I guess I should have expected as much from the director that brought us LOST BOYS 2: THE TRIBE.

Don’t get me wrong, there is some fun to be had with SMOKIN’ ACES 2. The movie certainly has the same SMOKIN’ ACES attitude and avant-garde feel, which is easily what made the first film so enjoyable. They took this one all out too, it felt like it had nothing to lose. I mean, how can you not have a good time when the Tremors (yes, the family from the first one) are launching bomb-strapped clowns out of a cannon into a bar?

Where the movie really succeeds is in the special features. There are a lot of special features on the disc, and some surprisingly interesting feature,s too. Pretty much the only special feature I didn’t care for was the deleted scenes, simply because none of them were that good. The film also includes two versions of the movie, the R-rated version and an Unrated version. Even if you never plan on watching the rated version (I don’t), it is a nice little extra.

The biggest feature on the disc is a half hour long making of feature titled “Confessions of an Assassin,” which was obviously made with a lot of care. It really helps out when a special feature feels like it was made with the care of a feature film. “Confessions” chronicles the making of the movie all the way from pre-production to post. It has interviews from just about everyone involved with the movie and was a really fun watch.

The other features include “The Bunker Mentality,” which is an in-depth look into the designing of the main set of the film. It discusses the original idea for the set, and ultimately what it turned into. The disc also has a feature called “Behind the Scenes with Joe Carnahan” where the cast and crew discuss what it was like working with Carnahan, who was the director of the first film and creator of the series. I can’t forget to mention the shorter features “Ready Aim Fire” which talks about the weapons used in the film and “Cue the Clown” which shows how they did the exploding clown effect.

I really have to commend the disc too because on top of all the features I’ve listed, there is also a feature-length commentary with P.J. Pesce and Joe Carnahan. That just shows how much care was put into this disc, because more often than not, when there is a long “Making of” feature then there is no commentary. This really put the set over the top, and made it an easy recommendation.