The Assignment (2016) Reviews

• Mixed feelings (no pun intended)

  nicholls_les2017-06-26

  This isn't an awful movie and it does have some good moments, but I struggle to think that it really works. Firstly the story itself is pretty improbable although the idea of a mad surgeon wanted to experiment is not new it is still a bizarre thing to want to do, especially to worry about the quality of her work when changing the guys sex to female. Michelle Rodriguez does a pretty good acting job but never really convinces that she is ever male. From the outset it looked like a girl with a beard, apart from the shower scene where they must have used either CGI or good prosthetic. She also didn't really convince as an assassin and made some pretty silly errors of judgement but I guess that is down to the script rather than acting. So over all I have mixed feelings. It isn't a bad movie just not a great one.

• I am trans and was looking forward to this!

  MsJackieO2017-03-10

  Forget the uproar from sensitive trans groups, this film was never transphobic, it was just a classic revenge thriller. Waking up as the opposite sex is the worst thing imaginable for the overwhelming majority of society and tat's the crux of the film - not an attack on trans. If anything, its success would spark a franchise of a kick-ass trans-woman - talk about giving trans the spotlight! I am trans myself and I was looking forward to it as it seemed to be a throwback to the films I grew up on in the 80s when one man would avenge his life being ruined (usually his family being massacred). However this film was dull and muddled and riddled with exposition. The biggest problem is that it's told in flashback and with lots of - literally - one character 'talking' the story to another (Frank to the camera, the Doctor to the other doctor) and as a result there was no tension only on the nose dialogue. The other problem was a completely unlikeable anti-hero in Frank and a completely unbelievable performance by Michelle Rodriguez who never once convinced she was a man with her female frame, female build, female skin and female voice. Similarly, Weaver's The Doctor was lacking. I appreciate she was playing an aloof, detached character but there was nothing to her character. There was no bad guy you wanted to root against just as there was no protagonist you wanted to root for. This film could have been a solid, action-filled romp had it been told in a linear fashion and with stronger characterisation. As it was, it was a boring affair with too little action, style or interesting characters. The IDIOTS who say it's transphobic are, well, idiots. It's no more transphobic as Death Wish was phobic to people who have been raped and murdered.

• Very Strange Movie

  lediscipledessocrates2017-03-04

  I write this review utterly confused. I am tempted to pan this flick on account of bad acting, a weak plot and some outrageously ridiculous make-up stunts . But as I said, I am utterly confused. Could the director actually have intended the movie to be so ? I , for one, do not know. Nevertheless, to begin things Sigourney Weaver ,synonymous with the Aliens franchise , is cast in the movie by the director ( Walter Hill , the producer of the Alien Franchise) an an intelligent surgeon . One can see obvious attempts to play Hannibal Lecter in some sequences. Michelle Rodriguez lives through of one the worst make-up jobs I have seen in this genre. She plays a male-hit-man for the first few minutes in the movie . She looks very funny , though to her credit she doesn't act funny. The action sequences are quite simple and matter of fact. Michelle comes in point the gun and shoots people without much ado. This is a relief because frankly I am tired of watching extended chase sequences shot with unsteady cameras, highly stylized but futile hand to hand combat scenes ( a trend started by the Jason Bourne series ). Nothing much is kept from the audience and another good part about the screenplay is that characters confront each other and say things for they are . Despite some scenes of useless pseudo-philosophical banter involving Weaver, the movie is globally clean of complexity. Even as I write this review I tempted to increase the movie's rating. Just did. I wouldn't advise watching it deliberately. If you are on a flight or want to watch something to pass your time , it may serve the purpose very well.

• A different kind of action thriller...

  paul_haakonsen2017-06-06

  Yay, another movie with two of my favorite female performers; Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver in the same movie. Actually, I had not read up about this movie prior to getting the chance to sit down and watch it. All that mattered was it was an action/thriller movie with two of the most talented and charismatic of female actresses in Hollywood. "The Assignment" didn't fail to impress. Surely, the storyline was a bit offbeat, but that quickly seeped in and you get with the story and movie quickly enough. And it was rather surreal to see Michelle Rodriguez as a man in the beginning of the movie, but it was done so nicely that it actually looked quite real. Color me impressed. Of course it is a bit redundant to mention that "The Assignment" had a really impressive cast ensemble. And even more needless is it to say that both Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney Weaver were really impressive in this movie. Rodriguez carried the action and butt-kicking part, while Weaver was superb in a deranged sort of diabolical doctor role. It was also nice to have both Tony Shalhoub and Anthony LaPaglia in the movie, despite having only supportive roles. The story in "The Assignment" was good, although it could have been better with a bit more action. But of course, that is a matter of personal preference. There was a bit too much focus on the drama and storytelling for my liking, so of course I would have liked more action sequences. "The Assignment" is an entertaining movie and I found it to be quite well worth sitting down to watch. However, truthfully, then I think that it is a movie that doesn't really have enough contents to sustain multiple viewings.

• Different.

  ladyacct692017-07-18

  Not your standard action movie. I liked the differences, as well as, the same threads that run through every action movie such as dead bodies and guns. I felt that with two female leads there would be more action for the mind and while there was it still had the physical action but it was done in a more straightforward manner.