(Long Island, N.Y.) Killer Elite is an action film. An action film with a rather stellar cast, overall: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, and Robert De Niro. However, it’s also an action movie that ends up actually being a bit more than the sum of its parts. Not MUCH more, but more. Read on.
Killer Elite is based on some book called The Feather Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes that’s supposed to be based on actual events…real “Black Ops” kinda stuff. Of course, I’m sure the movie has changed all the actual facts for the sake of establishing “drama” to the point where the novel is almost unrecognizable, but that’s Hollywood for ya.
Anyway, the movie is about an assassin named Danny Bryce (Statham…let me ask you, how does this guy always manage to have perfect 5 O’clock shadow? I mean, always?) who has recently retired. Of course, that’s the cue for his mentor, a gentleman named Hunter (Robert De Niro), to be kidnapped. And guess what? The guys who kidnapped Hunter want Danny to come out of retirement for “one last job.” This job happens to involve killing some guys that killed the sons of a powerful sheik. So, Danny gets a gang together to assist him, blood flies everywhere, and so on. Killer Elite is nothing if not predictable.
But that doesn’t make it a bad movie, however. Jason Statham has really become this generation’s go-to guy for solid action movies. He’s never made anything truly amazing, but he’s got a good “tough guy” look and attitude, comes equipped with legit martial arts training, and typically doesn’t go off on whiney tangents about the duality of life or whatever. His lone foible is his compassion- in many of his movies, he tends to go out of his way not to kill people, which is unfortunate for an action star. Sadly, this undesirable trait surfaces here, as Statham’s character refuses to kill a child in one scene. Well, I guess killing kids IS bad, so I’ll let him off on this one. Believe me, he otherwise does a more than respectable amount of damage in this movie…his big fight scene with Clive Owen almost rivals the big Vin Diesel/Dwayne Johnson brawl in Fast Five. Almost.
While Statham coasts along doing his usual shtick, the real surprise of this movie is Robert De Niro, who finally found a recent role that has managed to light a fire under him for once. Maybe it’s because De Niro’s been slumming in every crappy family comedy for ages, but his appearance in an actual action movie seems to have woken him up…in Killer Elite he’s got a spark that tells you that he’s legitimately enjoying himself, and it really shows. When I saw him in the trailer, I thought his presence in what appeared to be an otherwise by-the-book B-Action movie kind of an odd fit, but after watching his performance, it’s clear that he’s right at home breaking bones and taking names.
Otherwise, it’s an action movie. People fight, chase each other in cars, and blow stuff up real nice. Yeah, the camera is a little too all over the place during the fisticuffs, but that’s every movie made nowadays…you just have to deal with it. But, that aside, Killer Elite is a very solid entry into the action genre. Plus, it has Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (who awesomely played Adebisi on HBO’s OZ) in a supporting role! What more could you ask?
So, you want action? Come and get it. Killer Elite should easily satisfy your bloodlust!
