One could think of The Assassin as a cinephile’s film, as it contains a visual language that requires a trained eye, but nonetheless, with the still attributes of the acting and the overall length of the shots, the film is still highly entertaining...

| Dec 4, 2023

There is nothing wrong with a martial arts flick slowing things down, and it is refreshing to see a movie from the genre put so much effort in the production. However, this does not take away from the feeling that The Assassin lacks focus.

| Apr 29, 2023

The high volume of posturing and portending weighs down "The Assassin" and will test your patience.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Aug 14, 2022

This epic and yet claustrophobic and contained film obsesses over deep layers of tree branches twisted over each other, towering mountain walls with gaping caves at their roots, hills rising up in the misty distance as the gradient slowly pales.

| Feb 21, 2022

Watching the Assassin is like watching the river flowing down in autumn sunset. And you realize that one hour and forty minutes have gone by.

| Feb 14, 2021

Everything about the film is approached with great caution, as if unable to commit to any particular course of action; it doesn't appear concerned with getting to the point.

| Original Score: 2/10 | Dec 4, 2020

It is a challenging film, but I believe it is important for a film viewer to be challenged from time to time. This is hands-down one of the best opportunities for that in recent years.

| Original Score: 10/10 | Jul 2, 2020

At the end of the day, The Assassin represents a work of art rather than a martial arts film, which predominately relies on its beauty to dazzle its audience.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 18, 2019

In 'The Assassin' the shape is everything, it even elevates the more than simple plot to a place that few can truly reach. [Full Review in Spanish]

| Aug 31, 2019

Shot in both vivid color and striking black and white, the film unfolds like a poem, a whispered plea for peace and a stoic reflection on human folly.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Jul 5, 2019

The Assassin is undeniably one of the most beautiful-looking films to come out all year - however fans of interesting characters, cinematic thrills and coherent narratives should look elsewhere.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 9, 2019

The Assassin packs nearly every kind of arty, intersectional-feminist fan's fantasy into one movie.

| Mar 7, 2019

Sweeping, gorgeous, and head-scratchingly inaccessible, The Assassin is a challenging watch that asks much of its audience.

| Feb 2, 2019

The Assassin" is a gorgeous film, artfully structured, that bares however, little semblance to the wuxia genre, apart from the era it takes place.

| Nov 3, 2018

You're not likely to see a better film this year.

| Oct 30, 2018

Much like Wong with The Grandmaster, Hou has made a martial arts film that is more of a personal statement than a genre piece, but his style suits the genre surprisingly well and certainly makes its mark in martial arts cinema.

Full Review | Oct 30, 2018

The pictorial beauty of this scene is self-evident; it's in Hou's painstaking orchestration of each component part and the thematic weight imparted by their careful configuration that lends the film a steadily increasing romantic gravitas.

| Nov 10, 2017

I say this all to say that folks have been fallen all over themselves for the Chinese drama, THE ASSASSIN, which is indeed a solid film but nothing I haven't see before

| Sep 1, 2017

I was NOT prepared for was just how beautiful the visuals Hou [Hsia-Hsein] gives us would be - beautiful to the point that I ultimately didn't care at all whether I understood what The Assassin was trying to say.

| Aug 16, 2017

The film tried my patience even as I marveled at its aesthetic: pretty things just aren't enough.

| Aug 14, 2017