Yesterday I saw the prequel to Smoking Aces, which is "Smoking Aces 2 Assassins Ball" and I don't know what to think about it. Because Smoking Aces is overall a bad movie which destroyed it's own premiss with an unnecessary plot twist and a downer ending that made the whole film pointless. But before the plot twist there were some fun moments and what I myself would say some good and decent action with all the colourful assassins and what not.

In Smoking Aces 2 Assassins Ball there are less colourful assassins (and two from the first film make an appearance in this one so you know they are going to survive because it is a prequel), and the action is well less creative which makes the action scenes less enjoyable. Because action can more than just dumb action if you're creative with it and explore the possibilities. The most enjoyable action scene in this movie was the exploding clowns, and I hate clowns and love to watch them die. But other than that it is pretty bland and just you're typical shoot-out scenario with maybe one slow motion berserker charge thrown in for the compensation of people hiding behind stuff while trying to shoot each other.

They also have a twist ending in this one so it wasn't a surprise when it got reviled what was actually going on. But I'll give this twist ending credit for at least having something to do with why all the assassins is trying to kill this one guy and not just a overheard mistake like in the first movie. Which actually could have worked if they hadn't played it so damn serious, because the movie didn't put itself out as serious a dramatic movie. It was supposed to be a whimsical action movie with colourful assassins killing each other to get to this one guy. But enough about the first movie, the twist ending in the second movie play it out better and ultimately delivers a satisfying ending which was awesome/hilarious. Also bonus point for casting Vinnie Jones, but minus because they should have used his character more.

So what is the final verdict? A really bad prequel to a really bad movie but with a better ending than the first one. Also it was more or less pointless to have it under the name of Smoking Aces because the only connection between the two movies are style of the premiss, a twist ending and two guys from the first movie.