Struggling against the oppressive rule of Japan, a group of courageous Korean resistance fighters, who have a plan to assassin the cruel Japanese commander, but when they find out that there is a traitor among them, everything changes.
Working off a budget of $16 million, filmmaker Choi Dong-hoon keeps the unapologetically mainstream but twisty story moving along engagingly despite some less-than-seamless shifts in time.
Brimming with characters - many in near-identical military garb - and bristling with double crosses, this unnecessarily lengthy homage to resistance chooses breadth over depth at every turn.
As strands of storyline feverishly tie themselves up through twists and coincidences, the double and triple crosses fade in impact next to the poise of Choi's all-star cast.
Exciting action scenes and stunning visuals, but overlong, somewhat exhausting and overstuffed with too many forgettable characters. Less would have been more.
For better and worse, South Korean period adventure Assassination is the kind of overstuffed historical mega-production that Hollywood doesn't make anymore.
A sensationally entertaining mash-up of historical drama, "Dirty Dozen" style shoot-'em-up, spaghetti Western-flavored flamboyance, and extended action set pieces that suggest a dream-team collaboration of Sergio Leone, John Woo and Steven Spielberg.