QUICK THOUGHTS: I’m a fan of the original Smokin’ Aces as a piece of escapist fun. It’s also a film I would recommend fans of absurd black-comedy action features pick up and add to their collection. However, Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassin’s Ball (referred to as Smokin’ Aces: Blowback in all of the special features) just isn’t up to par, and for the most part it can’t really help but look like the direct-to-DVD/Blu-ray film it is. Tons of obvious green screen work, second rate effects and an aging Tom Berenger as your biggest star doesn’t exactly spell out top quality. Director P.J. Pesce was obviously working with a minimal budget and he did what he could with what he had, but a stand-out film experience this is not.
Luckily, Pesce is used to this sort of cheap follow-up fare having directed the likes of From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter and The Lost Boys 2: The Tribe. And if you’re wondering how he wrangled Tom Berenger into this film, Pesce directed Berenger in Sniper 3 in 2004 so they have their own history. Lucky for Berenger he’ll be seen in Chris Nolan’s Inception this summer so things are looking up.
Smokin’ Aces 2 takes the original film’s concept of a group of various assassins all convening on one target with the FBI fully aware of the situation and doing anything they can to stop it. Instead of names such as Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Jeremy Piven, Ben Affleck, Andy Garcia and Taraji P. Henson, we get Vinnie Jones, Michael Parks and Autumn Reeser along with Tommy Flanagan back as Lazlo Soot. The plot gets extremely convoluted in an attempt to confuse the audience before the final reveal, and then tries to win over your heart with the nostalgic casting of Ernie Hudson (Ghostbusters) as an FBI agent dressed as something of a pimp (and it almost works).
The film isn’t all bad considering anyone watching it knows exactly what they are in for, but it’s definitely nothing more than direct-to-DVD fodder.
SUPPLEMENTS: Equipped with loads of behind-the-scenes featurettes from a look at the production on a daily basis, a traditional making-of featurette, a look at producer Joe Carnahan’s contributions, an audio commentary with Pesce and Carnahan in which they both admit they are “buzzed” by the end of, a gag reel and a couple of random featurettes. To be honest, it’s loaded with bonus material, but other than catching about 50% of the commentary the rest was not interesting in the slightest.
FINAL THOUGHTS: Just rent it if you’re interested. It will always be readily available at Netflix and isn’t worth spending any of your money on.
