Killer Elite

"Killer Elite", not to be confused for the Sam Peckinpah film of the same name, is basically Jason Statham being Jason Statham kicking ass, but this time he's facing off against Clive Owen and a bunch of other, more sophisticated bad guys. But since Robert De Niro showed him the tricks of the trade, it just couldn't get any more macho than it already is.

This movie is not just the typical shoot-em-up action fest. There is an actual espionage plot going underway, and though the screenplay isn't exactly original, the story unfolds in an engaging and intriguing way that I became concerned of the story for once and not just awaiting every action scene. The characters are fleshed out more often than most shoot-em-up movies of late. There's some beams of intelligence in certain scenes, though it's clearly not on the same level of the Jason Bourne movies. It tries hard though, and I have to give it credit for that. Was it really based on a true story? The film certainly doesn't say so, as it presents the somewhat complex tale as the usual Jason Statham ass-kicking fest. No comment there.

Judging from his previous movies I'd say "Killer Elite" is better than Statham's previous outings "The Mechanic" and the dreadful "Blitz". Statham is still great at being badass and here he is no exception, although he actually gets hurt in this film a couple of times. Clive Owen is the best and most convincing actor in the film almost giving Statham a run for his money. De Niro is low-key here but I suspect it's just a warm-up for his next big project with Scorsese. Yvonne Strahovski is just emotional fodder for Statham's character and her moments with him are somewhat clichéd but still, not cheesy, although knowing her role from TV's "Chuck", she deserves better. Dominic Purcell is also quite funny as one of Statham's assassin friends. The rest of the cast was not bad.

Production wise, the settings all look gritty and downbeat and someone's bound to get beaten up or shot pretty good in one of these sets. The music by Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek is alright but by-the-numbers. Simon Duggan's cinematography is good too - until the fight scenes. We do not want excessive shaky camera during ALL of the fight scenes, Mr. Duggan. The epic fight scene between Statham and Owen was almost ruined because of this.

If there were some things that would make the film better, they would be - better dialogue at parts, more Owen, and much more De Niro. As it stands, "Killer Elite" is a pretty good, solid and tough action film, and will definitely score a home run with Statham fans.

I eagerly await Statham's "Safe" because I feel that film is going to be genuinely very good.

Overall rating: 69/100

I'm not sure what it was about Killer Elite that disappointed me, but it just didn't seem to live up to its potential. It might have been that the movie relied on Jason Statham to act, instead of just do action. He plays a retired hit man who gets pulled out of retirement to save a friend's life. But it just doesn't work, he's unconvincing. The retirement isn't convincing and neither is his reluctance to return to work. He was much better in the Mechanic which dealt with similar issues.

Overall the movie doesn't hold together very well. There is too much that they are trying to accomplish, but not enough gets developed. For instance, the romance between Danny (Statham) and Anne (Yvonne Strahovski) just seems to be cut in to the movie in a few places. The Feathermen (the group about whom the book the movie draws from is written) appear in a few scenes, yet they're role is barely explored. They are spliced in just enough to give Spike (Clive Owen) a support system.

It's not a terrible movie, but it could have been much more. I think it would make a better mini-series, so that the different parts could be explored properly. If not, eliminate the things that aren't given justice.

Danny Bryce is a retired mercenary but he is forced to return to work when his mentor, Hunter, is taken captive by an employer after failing to complete a mission. Bryce is told he must finish the job if Hunter is to live. The employer is an Omani Sheikh whose three eldest sons were killed during a war; he wants the Danny to kill the three men responsible... it won't be easy though; they were all members of the Special Air Service. Each man must confess then the death must look like an accident. He, and a small team of associates go after the targets but it quickly becomes apparent that somebody, former SAS officer Spike Logan, knows what they are up to.

This is a decent enough story but it would have been better if it didn't claim to be true. It starts well with a prologue that serves to introduce Danny and Hunter and explain why Danny has retired. The way that he is pulled back into that world is effective enough. Once the action starts it is solid and nicely captures the feel of the early eighties. Jason Statham is solid as Bryce and Clive Owen is equally solid as Logan; although both have been better elsewhere. Robert De Niro is decent enough as Hunter although he is rather old to be playing a mercenary. The story provides plenty of twists and turns, some rather far-fetched. Overall I thought it passed the time nicely; not a must see but still entertaining.

I don't recall seeing a movie like this in a good, long time. It's a macho-action-thriller that didn't have an A-list budget, but probably didn't really need it, either. You used to see more of this back in the 70s and 80s; these days this kind of movie usually has a much bigger budget, with the requisite special effects and massive action sequences such a budget buys. Here, though, it's a little different.

Good action, intriguing setup (definitely no good-guy/bad-guy here; nobody is completely innocent by any stretch), and pretty good characters. And a story that's somewhat better than you usually find in this particular kind of film.

Don't know that Jason Statham's a great actor, exactly, but he's definitely a presence and he's got others to do the acting around him, and he performs in a several action scenes that come right up to the edge without getting silly. And I liked the basic plausibility in most of the scenes.

I'm a guy, and Killer Elite is a pretty decent "guy" movie. You could do worse.

Stirring as well as non-stop action movie , being allegedly based on facts , though the SAS even went on the record to disown both writer Fiennes and his book . After a brilliantly exciting opening in a thrilling terrorist action executed by Danny (Jason Statham) his mentor named Hunter (Robert De Niro , he is the only American born actor in this film) is taken captive by a disgraced Arab sheik, then the killer-for-hire is forced into action . His assignment : kill three members of Britain's elite Special Air Service responsible for the death of his sons . As it concentrates on the painful vendetta proceeded by an Arab oil magnate , as he kidnaps Hunter and coerces to Danny his search for revenge . Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny helped by Davies (Dominic Purcell), and Meier (Aden Young) pull off his relentless mission to free their colleague who is being held captive .

This moving picture contains thrills , unstoppable action , betrayal , fighting , car pursuits and lots of deaths , as it has a great body count : 21 . There are echoes here of many other action movies and behind the deceits , plot twists and manipulation is essentially a simple yarn . This is a thrilling picture in which our main starring , Jason Statham , is plunged into a highly dangerous game of vendetta and deception - where things are not always what they appear to be . The film is built around the internal secret services and SAS which sidelines in dirty work that ever the CIA won't touch . The flick contemplates the old themes of trust , friendship , vengeance , treason , cold violence and humiliation . The set pieces such as car chases , impressive as well as violent fights and a roof chases including bounds and leaps are all magnificent , as are so many secondary scenes . Interesting screenplay by Matt Sherring plenty of twists and turns , being inspired by the book "The Feather Men" written by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, this was an English adventurer, polar explorer and former SAS man is the author of The Feather Men, the novel from which this film is adapted . Although he has often claimed the novel was a true story, the families of the real dead SAS men named in the novel who died on SAS exercises and the SAS themselves publicly attacked it as sick exploitation and complete fiction . As mentioned above, all the families and the British special forces denied they had been consulted or involved in any way with the book .

The main cast is pretty good such as Jason Statham , Clive Owen , Yvonne Strahovski and Robert De Niro . Though the main starring results to be Jason Statham who from Transporter (2002) he already had a background in martial arts which enabled him to perform his own fight sequences , he followed in several similar roles as a two-fisted hunk in Charles Bronson ink such as War , Crank , The mechanic , Safe , Parker , Blitz , Hummingbird , Homefront , Wild card among others . Support cast is frankly well such as Dominic Purcell, Ben Mendelsohn, Anden Young , Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje , Nick Tate , Bille Brown, Stewart Morritt, and Grant Bowler . Atmospheric and appropriate musical score by Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek . Colorful and adequate cinematography by Simon Duggan . The motion picture was professionally directed by Gary McKendry , though has ups and downs . Rating : 6 . Acceptable and passable . Not very good , but enough to be going on with .