History Film / Assassins

* WouldHitAGirl: Bain has no compunctions whatsoever about killing women; not only does he kill a female police officer, Interpol agent and a hotel maid in the course of his attempt to get to Electra, he threatens Electra with cutting her heart out after he fails to intercept the data she's sending, and only a little bit later kills another innocent woman who's walked into the middle of the gun battle between himself and Rath in Electra's apartment building.

* NeckSnap: After Bain is arrested and put in a police car, he disposes of a cop sitting in the driver's seat by kicking out the side window and breaking his neck from behind.

* WouldHitAGirl: Bain has no compunctions whatsoever about killing women; not only does he kill a female Interpol agent and a hotel maid in the course of his attempt to get to Electra, he threatens Electra with cutting her heart out after he fails to intercept the data she's sending, and only a little bit later kills another innocent woman who's walked into the middle of the gun battle between himself and Rath in Electra's apartment building.

The main scriptwriters, [[Creator/TheWachowskis Lana and Andy (Now Lilly) Wachowski]], ended up protesting several changes in their script, which they felt made the final product too different from what they had conceived. This did not prevent them from selling to the same producer, Joel Silver, a second script they had completed alongside Assassins. ''Film/TheMatrix'' would not be ready for release until 1999.

The main scriptwriters, Lana and Andy (Now Lilly) Wachowski, ended up protesting several changes in their script, which they felt made the final product too different from what they had conceived. This did not prevent them from selling to the same producer, Joel Silver, a second script they had completed alongside Assassins. "Film/TheMatrix" would not be ready for release until 1999.

* BadAss: Both assassins.

* OmnicidalManiac: Bain has no problem killing men, women or children.

* ChekhovsGun: Rath's former partner, jasmine, the sunglasses...

The main scriptwriters, Lana and Andy Wachowski, ended up protesting several changes in their script, which they felt made the final product too different from what they had conceived. This did not prevent them from selling to the same producer, Joel Silver, a second script they had completed alongside Assassins. "Film/TheMatrix" would not be ready for release until 1999.

* HollywoodLaw: Interpol does not have field agents and cannot arrest anyone, so there are no gun-wielding sting operations. The organization simply networks national police forces to help them solve international crimes. While flattering, they're also not comparable to the CIA, as Rath claims.

* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Miguel [[spoiler:kills Rath's boss/partner because he wants to be "Number 1" and for this, he has to kill Rath himself. It doesn't work.]]
* PrecisionFStrike / ClusterFBomb: Bain goes on a profane tirade on his mysterious employer during an online conversation when the latter reassigns the contract because of the former's failure.

* ThatsWhatIWouldDo: Rath can anticipate some of Bain's moves because it's just what he would have done. (Or did).

* WouldHurtAChild: Invoked by Bain when he prepares to snipe a nearby girl playing football to make Rath back down, knowing that his rival holds [[WouldntHurtAChild the opposite view]].

The main scriptwriters, Larry and Andy Wachowski, ended up protesting several changes in their script, which they felt made the final product too different from what they had conceived. This did not prevent them from selling to the same producer, Joel Silver, a second script they had completed alongside Assassins. "Film/TheMatrix" would not be ready for release until 1999.

* TheChessmaster: Both Rath and Bain are being manipulated by their employer. [[spoiler:Who is an old friend of Rath's that Rath believes he killed long ago]].

* CopKiller: Miguel Bain is almost casual about blowing away any police officer who gets in his way. When there's a manhunt underway for Miguel, Rath berates him for being so stupid/psycho to attract attention by killing cops.

* HitmanWithAHeart: Rath, but not Bain. Somewhat deconstructed, since it's revealed right at beginning of the movie that his employers just sent another guy whenever he refused to kill someone and that Rath is fully aware of this.

* LickedByTheDog: Electra's cat taking a liking to Rath is one indication that he's at least a half-decent guy despite being a contract killer.

* HistoryRepeats: Taken almost to extremes.
* HitmanWithAHeart: Rath, but not Bain.

* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: You probably don't want to get involved with a guy named Rath or a girl named Electra who apparently cares more about her cat than men.

* GenreSavvy: Being a veteran assassin, Rath is more than aware of tricks like RoomDisservice.

* RoomDisservice: {{Played with}}. Rath is [[GenreSavvy more than aware of this tactic]], and is very suspicious (and has his gun ready) when room service comes knocking, but Electra confirms that she did actually order something.

The senior assassin is Robert Rath, (Stallone) a rather sober and efficient man who always gets his target while also making a point of minimizing or avoiding collateral damage. However Rath is becoming tired of the job and increasingly thinking of retirement, and whether or not the people he works for will even let him retire. The younger guy is Miguel Bain, (Banderas) who is pretty much a psychopath who turned his hobby to a profession. He is also a competitive rising star in the field and looking for ways to increase his reputation. Undermining or even killing old guys such as Rath is just one more way to do that.

* ConcealmentEqualsCover: Averted. Walls and other minor obstructions provide no innate cover throughout the film, and both assassins frequently try to kill each other by shooting right through them.

* CopKiller: Miguel Bain is almost casual about blowing away any law enforcement officer who gets in his way. When there's a manhunt underway for Miguel, Rath berates him for being so stupid/psycho to attract attention by killing cops.

* GunpointBanter: Justified as Rath and Bain are talking in a [[NotMyDriver stolen taxi]] with a sheet of bulletproof glass between them. And Bain still tries to shoot Rath anyway, just in case the glass isn't tough enough.

* RoomDisservice: Played with. Rath is [[GenreSavvy more than aware of this tactic]], and is very suspicious (and has his gun ready) when room service comes knocking, but Electra confirms that she did actually order something.

* NeckSnap: After Bain is arrested, he disposes of a cop sitting in the driver's seat by kicking out the side window and breaking his neck from behind.

* WouldHitAGirl: Bain has no compunctions whatsoever about killing women; not only does he kill a female Interpol agent and a hotel maid in the course of his attempt to get to Electra, he threatens Electra with cutting her heart out after he fails to intercept the data she's sending, and only a little bit later kills another innocent woman who's walked into the middle of the gun battle between himself and Rath in Electra's apartment building.

The main scriptwriters, Larry and Andy Wachowski, ended up protesting several changes in their script, which they felt made the final product too different from what they had conceived. This did not prevent them from selling to the same producer, Joel Silver, a second script they had completed alongside Assassins. "Film/TheMatrix" would not be ready for release until 1999. While not a critical hit, the Assassins was a modest commercial hit. It earned about $83,506,268 in the International market. With about 30 million from the United States market, it was the 59th most successful film of its year.

Not to be confused with the [[Theatre/Assassins play of the same name]].