Smokin' Aces 2: Assassin's Ball (2009)

25% of users liked it
(2,836 ratings)

The world's most resourceful assassins target an FBI desk jockey in this action-packed prequel. Hal Leuco wants FBI agent Walter Weed (Tom Berenger) dead, and he's got the connections to get the job done. When Hal offers a sizable bounty for the head of Agent Weed, the killers start to come out of… More The world's most resourceful assassins target an FBI desk jockey in this action-packed prequel. Hal Leuco wants FBI agent Walter Weed (Tom Berenger) dead, and he's got the connections to get the job done. When Hal offers a sizable bounty for the head of Agent Weed, the killers start to come out of the woodwork. Of course, the Tremor family is always game for a challenge, but with a lethal beauty (Martha Higareda), a maniacal driller killer (Vinnie Jones), and a stealth assassin (Tommy Flanagan) all gunning for the prize, too, it'll be a miracle if Agent Weed lives to see the next sunrise. Fortunately for Agent Weed, Agent Baker (Clayne Crawford) and his team of heavily armed operatives may have just enough firepower to beat this determined team of assassins at their own game. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 29 min.
Directed By: P.J. Pesce
Written By: P. J. Pesce, Joe Carnahan, Olatunde Osunsanmi, Olumide Odebunmi
Genres: Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy

In Theaters: Jan 19, 2010 Wide
On DVD: Jan 19, 2010
Studio: Universal Studios Home Video

Critic Reviews

Scott Weinberg, Cinematical
It's clearly low-budget and frequently low-minded, but there's certainly some fun to be found.
Brian Orndorf, BrianOrndorf.com
Co-hatched and executive produced by Carnahan himself, the filmmaker should hang his head in shame over this cut-rate, slapdash cash-in. It's a ghastly, embarrassing motion picture.

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Featured Audience Ratings

Roy G

It's clearly low-budget and frequently low-minded, but there's certainly some fun to be found.
Phil H

You want guns guns guns guns and lots of over the top characters with videogame like traits all brought together in one place to simply shoot the shite out of each other?? course you do. Doesn't pretend to be anything other than a complete and total shoot em up which may as well… More
You want guns guns guns guns and lots of over the top characters with videogame like traits all brought together in one place to simply shoot the shite out of each other?? course you do. Doesn't pretend to be anything other than a complete and total shoot em up which may as well have top scores and '1ups' floating around. Cast is unknowns with the odd well known character actor in there which works well, you know everyones gonna die its just a case of in what order hehe. Anything with Vinnie Jones in you know straight away what type of character he will be playing and to expect both badassery with allot of tongue in cheek. Set completely in a bar for most of the action so nothing much visually to shout about, plenty of fancy slow motion shooting and killing with much gun porn going on, looks pretty glossy but we've seen it all before over and over. Total popcorn flick which won't let you down if you just want guns n crazy ass characters.
Dean M

This dumb action straight-to-video film does not include a killer shindig, as that title suggests. Instead, this unnecessary sequel - which, from a garbled intro, appears to be a prequel - wastes your time with another heaping of inept professional hit-people competing to take down… More
This dumb action straight-to-video film does not include a killer shindig, as that title suggests. Instead, this unnecessary sequel - which, from a garbled intro, appears to be a prequel - wastes your time with another heaping of inept professional hit-people competing to take down one dude. Original auteur Joe Carnahan's first Smokin' Aces was underwhelming; this follow-up is tiresome, thanks to a dearth of stars, FBI logic, slick style and hired guns who can actually shoot straight. A heavily made-up Tom Berenger adds some pizazz, although the inability of trained law enforcers to question his motives reinforces how this ultra-violent, dopey and weakly poignant blow-up doesn't trouble your mind grapes.
Manu G

Seriously can this movie be any more suckier... one of the worst sequels ever made hands down... Walter Weed is an unassuming desk jockey at the FBI when the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him. A team of degenerate, psychotic assassins dispatched by mystery man Hal Leuco to… More
Seriously can this movie be any more suckier... one of the worst sequels ever made hands down... Walter Weed is an unassuming desk jockey at the FBI when the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him. A team of degenerate, psychotic assassins dispatched by mystery man Hal Leuco to win a huge bounty includes a resourceful beauty who has a unique method of killing her prey, a power-tool wielding psychopath and a deadly master of disguise.
Ginny

Review to follow
Curtis L

What a piece of crap. THey wanted to bank off of the similiar concept of the first, but didn't feel like putting any effort into. P.S. If you have Vinney Jones in your movie, you don't kill him like a little bitch gunned down for being dumb and jumping into a room full of… More
What a piece of crap. THey wanted to bank off of the similiar concept of the first, but didn't feel like putting any effort into. P.S. If you have Vinney Jones in your movie, you don't kill him like a little bitch gunned down for being dumb and jumping into a room full of blazing guns. He deserves more. Shame.
Cassandra M

What an awful film, the whole concept was absurd. It's one of the dumbest movies I've seen and the way they tried to dress it up as some 'Usual Suspects' style work of genius was laughable. Everything to do with the four morons in the truck (especially the clowns)… More
What an awful film, the whole concept was absurd. It's one of the dumbest movies I've seen and the way they tried to dress it up as some 'Usual Suspects' style work of genius was laughable. Everything to do with the four morons in the truck (especially the clowns) would ruin any film and the plot was full of holes. Wilful suspension of disbelief is one thing but this required suspension of all intelligence. There are none of the big stars of the first movie. Vinnie Jones, who's improving as an actor and I want to like, still cannot deliver a line without sounding like he's reading it from a script for the first time and Tom Berenger is clearly desperate to be accepted by Hollywood again if he is taking parts like this. 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. If it had been put on the end of a decent film it would have gone down as one of the all time classic endings, it was that good an idea. Now it will just be forgotten on the end of a bit of straight to DVD garbage, which is nothing short of tragic.
Josh L

A violent, over the top B movie with horrible special effects (on purpose? can't tell), constant one-liners, and a plot that struggles to keep things going. It doesn't make much sense and I didn't care to make sense of it. It uses words that I'm not familiar with… More
A violent, over the top B movie with horrible special effects (on purpose? can't tell), constant one-liners, and a plot that struggles to keep things going. It doesn't make much sense and I didn't care to make sense of it. It uses words that I'm not familiar with and tries to explain them, but fails. I found it to be a problem. It is occasionally entertaining, but it doesn't even come close to any sort of quality. It's poorly shot (the shoot-out in the bar is horrible edited to the point that you can't tell what is going on at all) and the acting is mediocre. People who dig brainless, tasteless, and hyper-kinetic action movies will probably dig it. Others will want to stay far away or lower their expectations to incredibly low levels to get entertainment out of it (which is what I did). This movie completely deserves the direct to DVD treatment it got.
Aaron N

Agent Malcolm Little: [During a large Mexican stand off] I want everyone within the sound of my voice to lower their weapon, slowly. Despite my extreme distaste for direct to DVD sequels, I'm an unabashed fan of the original Smokin' Aces, and I think the concept of… More
Agent Malcolm Little: [During a large Mexican stand off] I want everyone within the sound of my voice to lower their weapon, slowly. Despite my extreme distaste for direct to DVD sequels, I'm an unabashed fan of the original Smokin' Aces, and I think the concept of gathering a large group of ridiculous assassins to go after one guy can be milked for more features. The fact that the original writer/director Joe Carnahan had a hand in the story also made me confident that this wouldn't be a complete waste of time. As a result, this film is actually watchable. Its not very good by any means in terms of its merit as a film, but the action is handled well enough and the over direction wasn't too much of a bother due to the use of many different types of assassins to blend into this messy feature. Tom Berenger stars as Walter Weed, a wheel chair bound desk jockey at the FBI. When the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him, Walter is taken to an underground bunker. Meanwhile, a team of psychotic assassins are dispatched by mystery man Hal Leuco to win a huge bounty. These assassins includes a resourceful beauty who has a unique method of killing her prey, a power-tool wielding psychopath, a deadly master of disguise, and more of the Tremor clan from the original film. Hopefully the few agents trying to protect Weed can do their job. While not a true sequel beyond character connections, the film does a serviceable job of working into the same spirit. The direction is no where near the quality of a theatrical film and the low budget doesn't help, but I can always appreciate Vinnie Jones in a movie (even if he is vastly underused here). There's not a whole lot to recommend here. I enjoyed a few elements here enough to keep me entertained and the last half hour is pretty cool (which is a third of the movie). Fritz Tremor: Remember old Bobby Dubap, y'all? Down out of Tulsa? That shitstain got himself keistered with an RPG. Lester Tremor: Did they fire it? Fritz Tremor: Fire it? [chuckles] Fritz Tremor: I'm telling you, boy. I mean, if you took the time now to bother to stuff a collapsible shoulder-launch RPG up somebody's bunghole, don't you think you'd fire it? [laughs] Fritz Tremor: Wouldn't you feel just a little let down if you didn't? [laughs] Fritz Tremor: Why would you put it up there in the first place? Lester Tremor: I don't know. You got your thumb up there most of the time. Why don't you tell me?
Al S

A killer of a thriller. It's way better than expected. A riveting, explosive and sensational action-packed thriller. A solid and very compelling prequel that delivers in every way with plenty of action, twist, turns, humor and great character development. A strong, wickedly… More
A killer of a thriller. It's way better than expected. A riveting, explosive and sensational action-packed thriller. A solid and very compelling prequel that delivers in every way with plenty of action, twist, turns, humor and great character development. A strong, wickedly funny, twisted and adrenaline-charged thrill-machine from start to finish with a revealing and cool conclusion. A fun-house of madness, bullets, blood and chaos that you will love to watch again. It's surprisingly smart, sexy and hard-rocking all the way through. A great cast with cool and wild characters including the always memorable Vinnie Jones, who is always a joy to watch. Clayne Crawford and Tom Berenger give excellent performances.
Derek A

The original Smokin' Aces is a guilty pleasure of mine, so inevitably I was quickly drawn to its prequel: Assassins Ball. This film is a downgrade to the original in every way possible, but that should come as no surprise since it was a… More
The original Smokin' Aces is a guilty pleasure of mine, so inevitably I was quickly drawn to its prequel: Assassins Ball. This film is a downgrade to the original in every way possible, but that should come as no surprise since it was a direct-to-DVD release. Much like the first, this film centers around a massive contract being placed on an individual for unknown reasons, and the FBI's ill-fated attempt to protect him from the scores of assassins looking to collect a heavy bounty.This time around, the character being protected is a mid level FBI analyst (played blandly by a visibly aging Tom Berenger)... a clear downgrade from Jeremy Piven's eccentric character in the original. However, the return of Lazlo, the assassin who steals his victim's face, and the original reckless, redneck Tremor family were nice references to familiar story lines. And Vinnie Jones is a perfect addition to a clusterfuck of wicked assassins.The film is fast-paced and chalked full of cheesy dialog and mindless action. Almost as quickly as it begins, the film explodes into a barrage of bloody mayhem with little explanation or character development before its surprisingly ingenious conclusion. The final act might be the only aspect of the film that measures up to its predecessor, but that doesn't necessarily make Assassins Ball a failure. Despite its flaws, the film delivers colorful characters with plenty of gunfights and gore. It serves to pay homage to the first without trying to make itself better. Fans of the first should be able to sit back and enjoy this bloody mess. "Gonna make this joke about you shooting your load and then me shooting you, but it wasn't as good as "dismissed." "
Lorenzo v

"Gonna make this joke about you shooting your load and then me shooting you, but it wasn't as good as "dismissed." Walter Weed is an unassuming desk jockey at the FBI when the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him. <center><font… More
"Gonna make this joke about you shooting your load and then me shooting you, but it wasn't as good as "dismissed." Walter Weed is an unassuming desk jockey at the FBI when the Bureau uncovers a plot to assassinate him. <center>REVIEW</center> What a bloody awful film, I barely know where to start. Everything to do with the four morons in the truck (especially the clowns) would ruin any film, let alone one struggling as much as this one was anyway and the whole concept of the movie was just absurd. The plot was full of holes, willful suspension of disbelief is one thing but this required suspension of all intelligence. It's one of the dumbest movies I've seen and the way they tried to dress it up as some 'Usual Suspects' style work of genius was laughable. There are none of the big stars of the first movie, they obviously read the script and aren't idiots. Vinnie Jones, who's improving as an actor and I want to like, still cannot deliver a line without sounding like he's reading it from a script for the first time without his reading glasses. Tom Berenger is clearly desperate to be accepted by Hollywood again if he is taking parts like this and I bet he was a very good boy 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. If it had been put on the end of a decent film it would have gone down as one of the all time classic endings, it was that good an idea. Now it will just be forgotten on the end of a bit of straight to DVD garbage, which is nothing short of tragic.
Sylvester K

What is the plot??? It's kinda campy+cheesy, characters only changed slighty, are essentially the redesign from the first movie. A lot of pointless actions, making it feel like a gore equipped low budget film.
Barry L

Absolute pants im afraid. Total waste of a film and it was a shame.
Remi L

I watched it because I had nothing better to do and because I love Vinnie Jones and Autumn Reeser (The O.C.). This prequel follows the same basic premise of the first Smokin' Aces, but they do differ in two ways. The first Aces was much more of a hell raiser and with an obvious… More
I watched it because I had nothing better to do and because I love Vinnie Jones and Autumn Reeser (The O.C.). This prequel follows the same basic premise of the first Smokin' Aces, but they do differ in two ways. The first Aces was much more of a hell raiser and with an obvious star-studded cast. Aces 2 is tamer, but compensates with what I thought was comedy dialogue. It also felt shorter than the first Aces. This movie tries to tie in current politics as well as (SPOILER ALERT) a Usual Suspects jab. Watch it when you're at home with nothing better to do.
Matthew L

Predictable, worthless followup to the genius Smokin Aces. This was no comparison and just failed on many levels. No wonder it went straight to video. Tom Berenger is a good actor but has just been making some bad movies lately. He was just so-so in this one. The plot was similar and… More
Predictable, worthless followup to the genius Smokin Aces. This was no comparison and just failed on many levels. No wonder it went straight to video. Tom Berenger is a good actor but has just been making some bad movies lately. He was just so-so in this one. The plot was similar and the violence was the same gore effect as the first. The problem was there was no point and this twist has all been done before (Usual Suspects). Some funny parts with the Tremor family reappearing and nice exploding clowns! Other then that, waste of film!