Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Director: Jesse Atlas, Defiant Screen Entertainment.
This sci-fi thriller is Bruce Willis’ final film role. An exploration of identity, a man dies as part of an experimental military program. A former black-ops soldier takes his place to find who killed him.
A private military operation invents a futuristic microchip technology that enables the mind of an agent to inhabit the body of another person to carry out covert, deadly missions. However, when an agent gets killed during a secret mission, his wife takes his place in an attempt to bring the man responsible to justice.
Alexa (Nomzamo Mbatha) and Sebastian (Mustafa Shakir) are a married couple both in the U.S. Army. Being on separate tours of duty, they get to see each other less than they’d like. When he comes home in a long-term coma, an unhappy reunion occurs. Alex demands to know what happened and is told Sebastian was shot while inhabiting another body on top-secret assignment.
A private military operation, led by Valmora (Willis, Die Hard franchise), invents futuristic microchip technology that enables the mind of an agent to inhabit the body of another person to carry out covert, deadly missions. According to the chief, “it’s the future of drone warfare.”
Bruce Willis gets a fair amount of screen time and is good at giving orders, but this is not his finest career character.
Jesse Atlas, in his directorial debut, asks some pertinent questions. “The evolution of drone warfare from remotely piloting machinery to remotely inhabiting another person raises important questions about what it means to truly be oneself. Can we retain our identity when the face in the mirror is not our own? How do we navigate our psyche when cognitive dissociation becomes a daily routine?”
Who plays his final role in Assassin? If your answer is correct, you could be a winner. Entries should be sent to [email protected] by Monday, 19 June 2023. Names of the three winners will be published in Frank Cassidy’s PS-sssst…! column on 20 June 2023.
- Assassin has been released on Digital and DVD
