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LESSONS FOR AN ASSASSIN
Produced by Robert Vitelli
Directed by James Glenn Dudelson
Written by Gregory Amadeus Franzese
Edited by Curtis Edge
Director of Photography - James M. LeGoyRobert Vitelli .... Gavin Mathews
Shannon Lee .... Fiona
Michael Dorn .... QuinnOnce again another low life criminal finds his identity erased by an all powerful group. This one is simply called The Corporation. And when Gavin Matthews (Robert Vitelli) starts training to become the perfect assassin he learns that he can never go back to what he once was. More importantly what he once was may not have been what he really thought it was in the first place.
Confused? Good. That's as good a place as any to be with LESSONS OF AN ASSASSIN. I know that if I was the lead actor, in this case, Robert Vitelli. I would be extremely put off to discover that I was no where to be found on the box art. Sure I can understand the marketing behind putting Bruce Lee's daughter on the cover. Coupled with the sales potential of Michael Dorn's name next to hers you've surely got a minor hit on your hands. But she is just Gavin's trainer and until the end, not in the film a whole lot. Michael Dorn is there even less. The film is about the training and transformation of Gavin Matthews from street punk to James Bondian killing machine. Suave, sophisticated and hard to kill.
Shannon Lee is a disappointment when compared with her father or brother. And, Shannon if you're gonna do a hot and steamy sex scene, you're gonna a have to get naked. Strategic placement of silken sheets will just tick most of us off. The reason for these kind of scenes in these kind of movies is nudity. Plain and simple. No underlying artistic message. We want to see naked boobies. Got it? Good, don't make me tell you again.
The film itself is a well done entry into the kung fu genre. We get lots of rigorous training. Actor Vitelli seems to know his moves very well and plays to the camera. The producers of this film must have liked what they saw since they made a sequel THE KILLING POINT. Shannon Lee and Michael Dorn don't show up in the sequel so hopefully they gave Mr. Vitelli a chance to be on the box this time.
If you're a die hard fan of the karate/action genre then you could do worse than this one. The acting is passable with Robert Vitelli being the stand out performer. Michael Dorn looked like he was phoning in the part and we've already discussed Ms. Lee's abilities. The stunt work which is vital to this type of film is well done. The only real criticism I might have is the ending of this one doesn't make a lot of sense. Maybe they explain it in the sequel. Oh and they mispell the word 'assassin' on the cover. Hope it sees spellcheck before official release.
Bio Info for Douglas Waltz
In the spare time afforded him between a full time job for the local phone company, Douglas is happily married with five, that's right five, children. He is a staff writer for the Print magazine Cult Cuts and does work for the webzine (www.cultcuts.net). He also publishes his own small press zine called X-Ploitation. In addition to that he's working on an annual publication of short stories from various writers called On The Night Highways. And if that wasn't enough he's about to shoot his first short film, Phone Sex, sometime this summer.