Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Reign of Assassins could be a sequel to international sensation 'Crouching Tigers, Hidden Dragon', also starring Michelle Yeoh. It has many elements which resemble to the story of CTHD. A untamed female warrior who was changed because of love reminds very much of phenomenal CTHD.Over all movie is very entertaining, action sequences are very well choreographed. The suspense is well kept and story progresses with interest. However character development is weak. Chemistry between both leads could have been better. The romance which we see in the end could not blossom in the start. Perhaps Michelle Yeoh could have work on her passionate expressions. Rest of the cast did their job very well.Cinematography and editing is good. It could be felt that an American handled much of movie's work as the story paces very fast even though it was set in old times. Added action has taken much of the movie's soul out which is common with John Woo's movies.A good entertainer with blend of fast pacing story and brilliant wushu action.

In the Ming Dynasty, there was a legend about the mystical powers of the missing remains of an Indian Buddhist monk that would be capable to heal anything and would become a great kung-fu fighter. When the leader of the Dark Stone gang Cao Feng (Xueqi Wang) discovers that Prime Minister Zhang possesses half of the powerful remains, he sends a team of assassins to kill the minister and his son Zhang Renfeng (Xiaodong Guo). However, the skilled Xi Yu (Kelly Lin) flees with the remains and kills Renfeng, who fall off a bridge in a river. Then Xi Yu meets the monk Wisdom that advises her that she has four flaws fighting with her sword and she might be killed by Cao Feng that has trained her.Xi Yu goes to the renowned plastic surgeon Dr. Li that changes her face and she decides to start a new life in a small village. She assumes the identity of Zeng Jing (Michelle Yeoh) and poses of merchant, and soon she marries the quiet and clumsy Jiang A-sheng (Woo-sung Jung). When there is a robbery in the local bank, Zeng Jing is forced to fight to protect her and her husband from being killed, disclosing her skills to Cao Feng. Now he sends Lei Bin (Shawn Yue), Lian Sheng (Leon Dai) and Ye Zhanqing (Barbie Hsu), who are his three best assassins, to retrieve the remains and kill Zeng Jing and her beloved husband. The talented Michelle Yeoh is one of the most beautiful Chinese actresses and her movies are usually great. In "Jianyu", a.k.a. "Reign of Assassins", we have not only Michelle Yeoh, but also the hands of John Woo. The result is a great film of the genre, with predictable but not less engaging twists and a romantic conclusion. The choreography of sword fights is breathtaking and the music score is wonderful. Fans of the genre will certainly adore the awarded "Jianyu". My vote is seven.Title (Brazil): "Reino dos Assassinos" ("Reign of the Assassins")

English Title: Reign Of Assassins Original Title: Jianyu Year: 2010 Country: China Language: Mandarin Genre: Action Director: Chao-Bin Su Writers: Chao-Bin Su Cast: Michelle Yeoh Woo-sung Jung Xueqi Wang Kelly Lin Shawn Yue Barbie Hsu Leon Dai Hee Ching Paw Yiyan Jiang Zonghan Li Xiaodong Guo Pace Wu Matt Wu Feixia Wu Rating: 7/10My gut feeling after the first view of this film is mixed with some relief and a shred of disappointment. Last year, it was propagandized as a John Woo's work in order to infuse some incentive into this star-studded kung-fu film to conquer the local cinemas. Shamefully this trick stumbled quite severely as it was largely overshadowed by DETECTIVE DEE (2010) at the box office with the same release period (during Chinese National Day, October 2010).Its reviews were generally favored though, which should be merited to Chao-Bin Su, the real man behind-the-wheel and whose previous director works SILK (2006) and BETTER THAN SEX (2002) have won him some reputation as a gifted and emerging Taiwan director. As a Chinese, the fact is that we tend to be immune from domestic Kung-fu films much more than foreigners, because since our infancy, we haven been surrounding and tested by myriad films like these, so it is difficult to make a fuss about it unless there is truly something special in it.So speaking of this film, in spite of that it has many plot holes which doesn't make sense (even in the time of Jiang Hu, to name a few, our heroine's initial motivation of stealing the half buddha body in the first place; the plausibility of face-lifting technology; the sudden intensifying kung-fu mastery of our hero, etc.), the film converges some genuine talent to entertain its audience, especially the dreamlike cinematography successfully builds a ruthless world of Jiang Hu as well as its innovative fighting design which embodies each main character their own personality.The cast is solid for an action film, it's the first time since CROUCHING TIGER HIDDEN DRAGON (2000), Michelle Yeoh finally collected a decent leading role as a martial fighter, which is well-done too judging by the criterion of acting. I do have high expectation of her to take a leap in the upcoming Aung San Suu Kyi's bio-pic THE LADY (directed by Luc Besson). To sum up, I am pleased to watch this film and sincerely hope Su will become a big name in the near future.

Yes there was..without counting Michelle Yeoh, everyone else felt like they shouldn't be on this movie. Everyone else didn't fit their roles. I think they capitalized on the faces, not on the ability to pull off a martial artist role. Take for example Shawn Yue. Even after seeing him from Infernal Affairs, and now this, I still can't associate him with action movies. I could see him more as a boy-next-door, rom-com type of guy. But with these type of movies..I digress. Also Jung Woo-sung. His acting shows a lot of effort, you can see in his expressions that it doesn't come off naturally. Although I have to say his fight scenes were tolerable. For both of them, I think their genre isn't action. Well at least not yet. They don't have the Andy Lau aura in them.But nothing beats how Barbie Xsu was a terrible cast for this one. Not only was the look of a fighter negated by her sweet and slender appearance but her fight scenes were not decent as well. If I'm not mistaken, this is her first time doing a role such as this. And its quite obvious. She's suited for dramas, rom-coms, romance...but this one, I don't think she's ready for these types of movies yet. She was fabulous in Meteor Garden, because she pulled off the strong-willed college girl, and she looks like it, and she can act like it..but as an assassin, that's another story. The wire-fus didn't even help. The only thing I could commend of her participating in the movie is the fact of her taking a risk of matured roles, evidenced by her sensual and seductive scenes. She was bareback more than once.Even Wang Xueqi didn't come off as a despicable villain. And his raspy voice didn't help either. First half or ¾ of the movie will only show him with his hood on, letting his soldiers do ground work whilst he does his hypnosis and mind games of some sort.. trying to appear as a real dangerous fighter, making it appear his real strength is reserved for a much-awaited battle of all battles in the end(then again, that's what leaders do right?)..but then I have to say I wasn't disappointed with the fight choreography in the end part. The John Woo trademark is once again present on this one. You know, a fight after a fight. Giving the viewers complete satisfaction of fight scenes. Although wire-fu is everywhere, they're tolerable and to a certain extent, convincing.One strength of this movie is the story. I love the story as much as it sounds familiar. Yes its our good ole battle-over-something plot again. But it does have a good twist and the presence of some romance element will distract the viewer's perception of this as a purely action movie for awhile. A good integration of elements of love, betrayal, destiny, revenge..and of course, action!