Assassins - Nineties action fun

'Assassins' may have been made well into the nineties (1995 to be precise), but it somehow feels more at home with the slew of action epics made in the eighties where they were so deliciously over-the-top that you couldn't - truly - take them seriously and just enjoyed them for what they were - mindless popcorn fun.  The eighties (and nineties to a degree) were populated with the 'muscleman action stars' such as Schwarzenegger and, in this case, Stallone.  I know that Sly was more famous for his turns as Rocky and Rambo, so 'Assassins' may not be quite as fondly remembered as those, but it doesn't mean that it's in any the less fun if you're in the mood for something nice and bullet-ridden.

Stallone plays - guess what? - an assassin at the top of his game, but young upstart hitman Antonio Banderas is well up for dethroning 'the king' and not just taking his title, but also his life - especially after Stallone decides to protect the target Banderas is trying to kill (a very young Julianne Moore).

What follows is effectively a cat and mouse game of chase as Banderas decides that the only way he's going to be 'number one' is to get rid of both of them.  So, in true eighties/nineties fashion, expect plenty of shoot-outs and explosions.

What could just be a pretty average film is certainly made a damn sight more watchable by its A-list cast and also the great way the two leads play off each other throughout the movie.  They say one way a great film is judged is the 'relationship' between hero and villain.  In 'Assassins' there are more moments than you might imagine where two professional killers have little chats without actually murdering each other.  

It may not be up there with the most memorable of Stallone's work for the period, but it you're either a fan of his, Banderas or just eighties/nineties-style action movies, this is definitely one that will keep you entertained - no real brainpower required.  Oh, and there's a cute cat thrown in there quite often if that sways it for you.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that