The Movie: Killer Elite
The Good: Fun action sequences. Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert DeNiro.
The Bad: Convoluted story. Clive Owen’s mustache.
This movie is exactly what one should expect from an action film starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert DeNiro. It’s a silly little action romp that features crazy fights, shootouts, and explosions tied up loosely in a throwaway story.
The film starts with Danny (Statham) and Hunter (DeNiro), killers for hire, taking out a convoy of bad guys in Mexico. After the job, Danny retires, having had his fill of the lifestyle. Unfortunately, one year later, Hunter is kidnapped when he fails to complete a job, and Danny is pulled back into service once again. In order to free Hunter, Danny must take out three elite SAS commandos while making each hit look like an accident. Once things get going, a SAS operative (Owen) gets on Danny’s trail and tries to stop him. What follows is a globetrotting adventure where the fights are frequent and brutal.
For the past few years, Jason Statham has put out a steady stream of this type of action film. This year alone has seen him starring in The Mechanic, Blitz, and Killer Elite. How he’s able to put out this volume of high-energy action films without slowing down is beyond me. Unfortunately, all of these films are basically popcorn films without any real depth. Such is the case here. There is a bit of a love story and some vague message of friendship and sacrifice, but ultimately, all of that is forgotten the instant the credits roll.
What matters here are the fights and action. Here the film pretty much succeeds. First-time director Gary McKendry (how do you get that lineup your first time out?) does a fine job of keeping the action flowing. The pacing is nice, it’s easy to follow the big scenes, and the choreography is pretty cool. It looks like parts of the movie were really painful to film. Fortunately, it isn’t painful to watch.
3 out of 5 stars
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