Full
Disclosure: I did donate to the Kickstarter campaign but am not
involved in the production of this film, thus this review represents
my honest opinion.
Having
followed Russ Emanuel's career for almost a decade and a half his
latest directorial effort with Paul Hickman penning the script and
producing represents a huge step forward. The 15 minute short is an
action slice of hopefully things to come.
Stunt
veteran Tarah Paige http://www.tarahpaige.com/ plays a hired assassin Kaylee, yet green around
the edges, adept at free running, and being slightly awkward in heels
ha! She has to pass one final test prior to becoming fully trained.
Tarah has a likable quality a mix between the amazing Heidi
Moneymaker and the tremendously talented Amy Johnston. Tarah moves
well and I enjoyed the free running scenes with the drone. Tarah's
fighting skills are decent not top level but perfect for 'The
Assassins Apprentice' as her character is more a finesse assassin and
is sent to actually poison her target.
Star
Trek veterans Marina Sirtis as Miranda and Robert Picardo as Pete
serve as a type of tech and informational support and teacher
respectfully. Though their roles are somewhat limited I am sure when
this gets made into a feature their characters whoever is playing
them will be expanded. Marina is a likable lady off screen and her
personality shows through in all her work. Mr Picardo is a consummate
professional actor and seems to be in character, as soon as required.
I must
give special recognition to the cinematography of Ray Karwel. His
tight camera work allows the audience to get in the scene. The action
flows clean and the close quarters dialogue is full of expression and
gravitas. Drone camera work is quite good, especially for a short
film. Steve Overstreet is listed as the drone operator and he did a
precise job of capturing Tarah as she is running though the film.
Another
highlight to 'The Assassins Apprentice', which is often overlooked on
many films, is the tremendous musical scoring by Vasillis Milesis the
music belays action yet does not overpower the film. The opening and
closing themes remind me of big budget Hollywood action films.
Overall
the action is damn good, and actually a bit different, as fighting is
not really used, except for one scene and it is minimal. I am sure a feature version which according to Russ is already written will
expand scenes and up the ante in fighting and perhaps gun play.
Very
minor quips arise in the transitions between Marina Sirtis's
character talking and the action. May have been better to have her
either interact with another character, almost liked piped in music
in a store when she was on screen it was fine, but was awkward, at
times. Picardo's character meets with Tarah Paige maybe at least a
meeting or something would have made the film flow perfectly. Again
this is minor, but worth noting. Also I am not a proponent of slow
motion action scenes as was done when Tarah was running over the
bench, I think it would have looked cool at full speed, as a stunt
perhaps a still screen at the end of the jump or have her run into
more objects. Again minor gripes, but as an action guy, these jump
out, I am sure with a feature film and more cash it will be much
better, as more time can be taken to film and the scenes themselves
will be longer.
Currently,
'The Assassins Apprentice' is making festival rounds. Definitely
worth a watch. Very high quality film that rates an 8 out of 10.
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Official Home Page: https://www.taamovie.com/
