The Killer's Game

"The Killer's Game" is an action-comedy film that had to go through a series of changes in development before eventually reaching post-production. Negotiated initially by Broad Green Pictures in 2015, the project changed hands a couple of times until STXfilms acquired it in 2018. The film was supposed to star Jason Statham but Statham left so Dave Baptista had to come in as the lead.

The story follows Joe Flood, a veteran hitman diagnosed with fatal diseases. Desperate to avoid such a painful death, Joe arranges for an assassin to kill him, but after placing the kill order, he finds out his diagnosis was a mistake, and he is healthy. However, the kill contract cannot be repealed now, and Joe becomes a target for other highly professional assassins, many of whom he taught himself. The plot follows Joe's fight for survival as he attempts to outrun his pursuers, reflecting on a life as a killer. Down the road, he finds out who set up the false diagnosis and uncovers a deeper conspiracy.

The film merges scenes of intense violence with humor while maintaining an over-the-top, comic book-like aesthetic. The storyline is not new, and it's predictable, but it's fun to watch because of the action sequences, visuals, and over-the-top characters.

The fight scenes, choreographed by J. J. Perry from a background in stunt coordination, are particularly praised for visceral impact and creativity. The movie has loud lighting and fun camera work, adding to the overall stylized view and blended sense of dark humor inside the action.

Perhaps the highlight of the movie is Dave Bautista as Joe Flood. So well-known for his stoic, humor-filled character, Bautista imbues vulnerability into the man, who is struggling to come to terms with his impending death while trying to protect a loved one, Maize, played by Sofia Boutella.

This chemistry adds emotion to the otherwise action-heavy plot. Ben Kingsley, who plays the role of mentor to Joe, manages to bring gravitas with wit in his scenes. Even when some characters, like Maize, enjoy relatively less screen time, their presence is of immense importance to the emotional core of the movie.

Despite the simplicity of its plot, "The Killer's Game" is a movie that reflects on mortality, love, and redemption. Joe is a lifelong hitman who reflects on his violent past and a chance at redemption through his relationship with Maize. Most of all, there are even religious undertones in the movie, most especially in the last act, where a priest becomes an ally to Joe.

On the whole, "The Killer's Game" is an entertaining, very mild action film that does not contain deep philosophical insights but does entertain its viewers by the blend of humor and conceptualized action with very powerful performances.

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When I saw the trailer for this thing my immediate thought was: "This looks really stupid... but, it might be MY KIND of stupid." And boy, was I right on the money! I take a risk on movies like this from time to time, fully expecting that I'm either going to love it or hate it. Cocaine Bear, for example, I freakin hated. This movie? I had a fantastic time from start to finish.

It's fun, it's action packed, it doesn't waste time. If you haven't seen the trailer, I wouldn't even watch it, because you'll probably enjoy it even more going in blind. It's a stylish, over the top action thriller with a script that got me to genuinely LOL a few times. That's a rare enough thing.

It's also Dave Bautista's first outing as a leading man. He's proven himself a competent performer in the Dune films and a few other supporting roles. I wouldn't call him a great actor, but he's a hell of a lot better than The Rock is ever going to be.

Sadly, The Killer's Game is getting no traction at the box office. Want another reason to support it? It's exactly the kind of mid-budget movie that barely exists anymore. A 30 million dollar risk on something that's not a sequel or established IP. Those are precisely the kind of films that deserve your money, especially if you're tired of the bleak, planned universe dystopia and rehash mill our theaters have become.

This is, frankly, the summer movie more people should've seen instead of Deadpool & Wolverine. If you like cheesy, fun, action fare like "Shoot Em Up" And "Bullet Train", you should definitely give The Killer's Game a watch.

Overall the movie is nothing special but I do love a good ol' fashion action flick. And it definitely serviced that need.

Story wise it was very mediocre. It's not gonna win any academy awards but it's serviceable for the movie. They tried to insert some comedy into it, but it didn't work out well.

Production value was just okay again with nothing special. I will see the fight choreography was good.

The characters are okay. Dave Batista not a good actor and he will never be a good actor unfortunately. So his performance didn't make the movie suffer. Terry Crews was really funny in it with his sidekick.

All in all the best part of this movie was the action. It was a jam packed full of it. If you like a good action movie, you're gonna like this one.

I'll say at least this for Dave Batista, he has great comedic timing. Is that enough to make him a leading man. All I can say is i already miss the muscle mass.

The strange part was watching Batista fake what he use to do on a nightly basis in a wrestling ring. I mean, despite losing 75 libs he's still a big man who stands out in a crowd making it far too easy to notice when a stuntman is being use for a simple body slam. Hollywood has tamed the animal.

On a positive note However, the action was good and the movie was funny. I thought it was perfect that the movie knew what it was to the point that it poked fun at itself. That just gave it the charm needed to cover up whatever it was missing

A cool watch.

It's not a great movie in the sense of story and ground breaking.

What it is it's an awesome action movie that makes up for story by giving the audience what they want... unadulterated violence that is both creative and fun. The movie is surprisingly funny where it makes up for the story itself.

The cast is just amazing. With each character, no matter small, is interesting. If the movie has more success, it would be absolutely amazing to see each character get their own movies.

Again, it's not going to garner Oscars or serious discussion but if you want to be entertained this movie will check all the boxes.