Smokin’ Aces is all noise, no substance. It throws a dozen assassins, FBI agents, and mobsters into a blender and hopes chaos equals cool. There’s style to burn—fast cuts, big guns, flashy suits—but not much sense beneath it all. The cast is stacked, but most are wasted in paper-thin roles. It’s like Guy Ritchie on Red Bull, minus the wit. Occasionally fun, mostly exhausting. A film that mistakes excess for excitement.
Everyone in this. Bodies all over the place. Bish bosh bash. Lead flying quite a bit. If you like action, then plenty of that.
This is an explosive, comic, action crime film that utilises the style of Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) with its fast paced, multi stories and razor sharp editing. It's certainly a highly entertaining, violent film with a great cast and it rattles along at breakneck speed. Set in Las Vegas it concerns a seedy entertainer Buddy 'Aces' Israel (Jeremy Piven) who has big mob connections but has decided to turn informer for the FBI and is hiding out in a plush hotel. The mafia have a massive contract out on him which attracts a host of top killers. FBI agents Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds, are also on their way to remove Israel into protective custody. When they all converge on the hotel mayhem ensues. The plot is very clever here too involving an FBI undercover operation from the 1950s and the relationships between various characters creates some neat twists. The cast includes Alicia Keys, in her first film, Andy Garcia, Ben Affleck, Joel Edgerton and Jason Bateman. Written and directed by Joe Carnahan this is great fun and well worth checking out if you've never seen it.