Nerds That Geek Movie Review – ‘Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball’

Written by Scott Edwards

Safety in numbers might be what many people think but when it comes down to it, you might be better off on your own. If you have a large group rolling down the street, you might feel secure, but everyone watches you and there is no place to hide. I am sure there are situations when it would be nice to have many people having your back, but overall, it is easier to run and hide when it is just you and you know that trouble is lurking around you. It may not seem important to you now, but when the time comes, you may see what I am talking about.

Walter Weed is desk jockey working for the FBI and he has just learned some concerning news. In the middle of some surveillance chatter, the FBI analysts heard his name being mentioned with a three-million-dollar bounty being put on his head. Not knowing exactly why Walter is being targeted, Agent Baker will not leave a brother of the FBI to be killed for any price and takes the old analyst into protective custody. Being able to find an old club in Chicago being run by a fellow agent, Baker has now found a strong hold to keep Walter safe, at least until after the hit expires. Playing the waiting game, Baker starts to find out more and more about Walter’s story, but is not able to put it together until the group is under fire.

A three-million-dollar reward is no laughing matter and the Tremor crew are on the road trying to make up a plan on how to collect. With Lester, Baby Boy, Kaitlyn and their father Fritz, the group is able to gather their supplies to make a splash when they are able to find Walter in his hiding spot. Finbar McTeague is ready to get in on this as well and with his bag of goodies, there seems to be no way in stopping him once he puts his mind to something or drives a stake in his target's brain. Ariella is not backing off one bit as her last hit left a priest dead on the steps of the alter for taking advantage of the children that attend and of course, Lazlo Soot is back and putting on a new face to make sure nobody knows what he really looks like.

There is very little time to play with as the target has to be killed at a specific time on a specific date. The FBI knows both the time and date and are locked up in a bunker under a blues club, but when they find out that there are hitmen sitting all around them, all hell starts to break lose. As all of the professional assassins are on site, their gunfire does not discriminate between the FBI and their fellow head hunters.  As each assassin falls, another one rises in their place and the longer the FBI can hold out, the better chance Walter Weed will be alive in the morning. But nothing is as it seems as the bullets fly, and the body count gets larger. Everyone is trying to find their little ticket to paradise with the payoff, but they do not know what Walter is willing to do to protect himself.

Not a bad follow up to Smokin’ Aces and even though it was a direct to video release, I will not be ashamed to say that I watched it. Each one of the assassins had their own back story and reason for the kill, even though it was mostly the three-million-dollar price tag being dangled in front of their eyes. I did really like Walter Weed in this movie, his story was a little bit more in depth than I expected and when you got to know him, you started finding out more about yourself.  Now I cannot take away from the assassins, and I do love all of their methods of killing, but I think that the Tremor crew took it to the next level with family dynamics and showing us exactly what circus performers should be used for. I am sorry to say that it made me laugh, actually more than it should have. Outside of the the one returning character and mentions of Buddy Israel, I did not see anything really trying to connect the two films, but if they come out with a third, they might be able to make bring the Sparazza family to its knees. Happy Viewing.

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