Operation: Endgame (2010)

A battle ensues among groups of government spy teams in an underground facility after their boss is assassinated.

Director:

Fouad Mikati

Writers:

Sam Levinson (screenplay), Brian Watanabe (earlier screenplay)

Stars:

Joe Anderson, Rob Corddry, Ellen Barkin

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joe Anderson	...	Fool
Rob Corddry	...	Chariot
Ellen Barkin	...	Empress
Odette Annable	...	Temperance (as Odette Yustman)
Maggie Q	...	High Priestess
Zach Galifianakis	...	Hermit
Adam Scott	...	Magician
Brandon T. Jackson	...	Tower
Emilie de Ravin	...	Hierophant
Beth Grant	...	Susan
Bob Odenkirk	...	Emperor
Michael Hitchcock	...	Neil
Tim Bagley	...	Carl
Ving Rhames	...	Judgement
Jeffrey Tambor	...	Devil

Storyline

A dry action-comedy about two teams of government assassins working out of a top-secret underground facility using code names from the Tarot deck. When our hero--The Fool--arrives for his first day at work to find that the boss has been killed under mysterious circumstances, he must find the killer before the whole place blows up.

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Plot Keywords:

looking at oneself in a mirror | first day at work | assassin | code name | spy | 

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Taglines:

Two rival teams of assassins. One killer day at the office.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and pervasive language including sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official site Official site [Japan]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 May 2012 (Japan)

Also Known As:

Rogues Gallery

Filming Locations:

Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anchor Bay Films, Infinity Media, Darko Entertainment

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original script, "The Rogues' Gallery," was a 2004 Scriptapalooza finalist and tied for "Best Comedy" at the Screenwriting Expo 3 Screenwriting Contest.

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Goofs

When 'The Fool' Murders Hierophant in the bathroom, Temperance says "So, you gonna get out from under her?" Fool replies by telling Hierophant's corpse "Get off me, you bitch," and then proceeds to push her leg off him. His shove dislodges her red high-heel shoe, which is seen to be flung a few meters from her corpse. In the following segment, when Chariot emerges from a stall in the same bathroom, Hierophant's cadaver is wearing both shoes.

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Quotes

Magician: I just... I can't imagine not waking up tomorrow, you know?
Empress: I can.

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Connections

References The Thomas Crown Affair (1968)

User Reviews

Another example of a great idea resulting in a not so great movie.

"You think it's easy to look like a bearded tampon?"

What a weird, odd, and ultimately underwhelming mixture Operation: Endgame ended up being. 

I was expecting a bloody action comedy with several really hot women and a couple of funny/interesting actors playing rival assassins who are out for blood, but instead I got a predictable, poorly scripted, ham-fisted critique on Bush-era intelligence operations. The great cast was really the only thing that made this movie somewhat worth my time. We've got Odette Yustman, Zach Galifiankis, Maggie Q, Rob Corddry, Adam Scott, Brandon T. Jackson, Emilie de Ravin, Ving Rhames, Jeffrey Tambor...it's like someone asked me personally about all the actors I'd like to see in a movie. Yet, they're utterly wasted on characters that are terribly written. It shouldn't be possible to make a mediocre movie with a cast this great, but whoever wrote the script certainly pulled it off.

The majority of the jokes are unfunny (Corddry does get a few gems, though), the fight choreography is unimpressive, and the movie as a whole would have been better without the looping real-life footage of President Obama's inauguration and the lame attempts to ground the story in some kind of political statement. I'm all for messages in movies, but Operation: Endgame goes about it without any subtlety or wit, and seemed a muddled mess as a result.  

I'm giving this a high score than it deserves because I got some enjoyment just from the opportunity to see a few of the actors I'm quite fond of (good Lord, Odette Yustman looks fantastic in a tank top), but I feel pretty comfortable advising others to just skip it, entirely. It's a shame that a movie with such potential ended up stumbling in the execution.