| Hidden Assassin (1996) Cast:Dolph Lundgren,Marushka Detmers,John Ashton,Gavan O'Herily Dolph Lundgren stars as Michael Dane, a US Marshall who is hired to apprehend a political assassin Simone (Detmers) who maybe responsible for killing the Cuban ambassador in this ultimately silly yet watchable political intrigue thriller which features a very good action sequence aboard a train between Lundgren and anonymous stuntmen, not to mention Lundgren and Detmers' chemistry which make this perfect for Lundgren fans and little else. Hidden Assassin simply doesn't have enough creativity or verve in it's storyline to be a good thriller. It's not that Lundgren is awful in the role, he certainly puts the effort in the performance and is certainly more convincing than his earlier Pentathlon, however him and Detmers who put in some decent acting just can't make up for the predictable story and the would be surprising twists you see a mile away. However on the action front Hidden Assassin delivers the goods, indeed the train sequence is very well staged but I was often times bored as the action took a long time to get to and while the movie never got too boring it just seemed a tad to lethargic to fully hold one's attention. Also there are many pointless scenes and Kotcheff directs with no sense of urgency. (Especially disappointing, considering he made the intense First Blood) In the end Hidden Assassin is mildly diverting but it's definitely not good enough to recommend putting money up to see it..D.Ted Kotcheff ** |