Assassination Games review

            When action stars go over their prime, it helps when the roles they take are supporting rather than leading. The reason Assassination Games is one of the more promising Jean-Claude Van Damme action films to be made in the last decade is simply because of the inclusion of a second action star to take some of the pressure off of an aging action hero. Scott Adkins is not remarkable but he certainly brings some youth to this buddy action film, which may have been even better with a sense of humor.

            The action may be improved, but the supporting acting and the dialogue still screams of straight-to-video nonsense which has been the mainstay for Van Damme since his falling out of blockbusters. There are still some great moments in this film, but there is also a lot to sit through which is less than impressive. The script meanders along without purpose and most of the film’s faults seem to be traced back to a sloppy screenplay to begin with. This is disappointing, because the premise is actually quite promising, albeit unoriginal.

            Van Damme plays an assassin named Brazil, who is hired to kill a drug dealer unaware that another killer is also hunting the same prey. Flint (Adkins) doesn’t want the criminal dead for the money, but instead wants revenge for his comatose wife. These two eventually find that teaming up against the crooked cops and deadly drug dealers is much wiser than attempting the job on their own.