Review: The Assignment BD + Screen Caps

THE MOVIE — 2.75/5

Well, the first 15-20 minutes of The Assignment, the latest from legendary filmmaker Walter Hill, was something else. Not entirely sure if this was meant to be complete comedy or what, but I’ll put it this way, Michelle Rodriguez + beard + hairy chest + strap-on. Add in her character, as a male, making love to a woman who was once a man. Got all that?

So the plot revolves around a hitman named Frank Kitchen (MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ) who, as hitmen do, has killed many people over his career. However, one job has come back to haunt him when Kitchen killed the brother of a brilliant but debarred doctor, Rachel Kay (SIGOURNEY WEAVER), has Kitchen double-crossed by his employer (ANTHONY LAPAGLIA), kidnapped and undergoes a gender reassignment procedure.

Kitchen wakes up now with the face of a clearly Michelle Rodriguez, a full set of breasts and drapes down below if you catch my drift and, from what I could, nary a scratch! In Frank’s crummy motel is a tape with a message from Dr. Kay with the why she did what she did and two bottles of pills with instructions, one containing hormonal medication. Frank has only one person she can turn to: Johnnie (CAITLIN GERARD), a transgendered woman whom Frank had “relations” with prior to her transformation. With safe haven, now Frank is out for revenge, first taking down her former employer and his goons and then for Dr. Kay.

Meanwhile, the film goes between the past and present, the past with Frank’s path of vengeance to today with Dr. Kay institutionalized being interviewed by Dr. Galen (TONY SHALHOUB), the two sparring back and forth with Kay showing off her contempt for Galen, and, well for all of humanity in general. It’s one of the better highlights of the film, showcasing the acting abilities of both Shalhoub and Weaver.

The Assignment had plenty of potential and early on, I thought there was something just with the ridiculous premise coupled with the utterly laughable fake beard the filmmakers glued to Rodriguez’s face. But after that, the film goes into familiar revenge territory for basically the remainder of the film. The only saving grace is with Sigourney Weaver and, to a lesser extent, Tony Shalhoub as their characters share some fun scenes. And I’ll give some props to Michelle Rodriguez, though given her stint in the Fast franchise, no surprise she can kick ass.

Directed by Walter Hill (The Warriors, 48 Hrs), from a screenplay by Hill and Denis Hamill, there’s an interesting plot behind The Assignment, despite some of the creativity Hill is known for, there’s something mundane and been there, done that vibe to 2/3rds of the film. On the plus side, the performances were good and it was at least better than Hill’s previous release, Bullet to the Head…

SPECIAL FEATURES – 1.0/5

This release comes with a matted slip cover. Inside is a DVD Copy and redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Unfortunately features are rather light with only Filmmaking Portraits (2:12; HD) featurette which is merely a bunch of behind-the-scenes stills.

Previews – The Girl with All the Gifts, Come and Find Me, John Wick Chapter 2, I Am Wrath, The Mechanic: Resurrection

VIDEO – 4.5/5

AUDIO – 4.0/5

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, The Assignment had an interesting premise and starts off well, if not weird, enough before devolving into familiar territory for the remainder of the film. On the plus side, Michelle Rodriguez isn’t bad once she’s rid of the hilariously bad fake beard and you can never have enough Sigourney Weaver (or Tony Shalhoub for that matter) in a movie. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate offers up good video/audio transfers but the feature was woefully thin.