After completing his training, an elite young assassin embarks on his first mission and is quickly entangled in an intricate plot laid by powerful people pulling strings from the shadows. Upon failing to complete the assignment, he is forced to go on the run—from the government and rival assassin groups alike—as he seeks to unmask the players behind the conspiracy.
Adapted from the novel by Yuan Tai Chi, “Code of the Assassins” is a Steampunk-Wuxia filmed much too stylized for its own good. Director Daniel Lee made the odd choice to film everything with such a high frame rate of speed that I thought my motion smoothing was turned back on. I even checked my playback settings to see if I increased the speed to 1.5x. Under these circumstances, watching or taking in any of the many details was nearly impossible. Lee directed “Black Mask” with Jet Li, which I used to love as a kid, but I have not seen it in years.
“Code of the Assassin’s” plot concerns an assassin vs. another assassin while they hunt for a copper map that may lead to a treasure. Many characters wear masks straight out of “Eyes Wide Shut” covered in carvings of Buddhist deities. Lee stated he intended to harken back to the ’90s, which, I love the idea, but I wouldn’t say I liked his execution. I adore films from the ’90s. Especially Wuxia and anything that features Jet Li, Jackie Chan, Michelle Yeoh, Maggie Cheung, and Donnie Yen.
I cannot recall anyone’s name, but the good-guy assassin had his arm severed while serving for the cool-sounding golden gods’ army. The good killer now has a mechanical component in place of his injury, and it is capable of some neat tricks.
I usually would blame the hegemony of superhero films for forcing this aesthetic and a shoe-horned origin story, but I think it was just Lee’s terrible choice. At one point, I literally thought I was wearing Virtual Reality goggles. Under the sheen of the warp-speed frame rate, every person looks like a cardboard cutout; every prop looks like a prop. It’s the opposite of an immersive experience.
Now available on the Martial Arts Streaming Service Hi-YAH!
and on Blu-ray™, DVD, and Digital March 28th
