Action-thriller about an Elite Special Air Service agent, Jason Statham, who is brought out of retirement to rescue his former mentor, Robert De Niro, captured by a covert group of three ex-SAS assassins, led by Clive Owen. Based on the novel The Feather Men by Sir Ranulph Fiennes which was controversially claimed to be based on true events.
"Pits two of the world's most elite operatives - Danny, an ex-special ops agent (Statham) and Hunter, his longtime mentor (De Niro) - against the cunning leader of a secret military society (Owen). Covering the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East, Danny and Hunter are plunged into a highly dangerous game of cat and mouse - where the predators become the prey." (Official Synopsis)
Based on a ‘factional’ (i.e. untrue) account by Ralph Fiennes’ ex-SAS (true) cousin, and featuring an astonishingly inappropriate cast, Killer Elite is a perplexing proposition. Gritty and clichéd, fast-paced and downbeat, it’s like every Jason Statham film ever made and none of them all at once.
As usual, The Stath plays a principled hitman dragged out of retirement for One Last Job™. Not-so-usually this involves murdering former UK soldiers in cold blood for crimes they committed in Oman. This means the film flits disorientatingly from the Middle East to rural England, behind-the-scenes army intrigue to brutal assassinations, with a moral murk to match.
Unfortunately it doesn’t explain why realistic action sequences such as The Stath and rival Clive Owen’s thrilling hospital smackdown are interspersed with risible movie-ish dialogue such as, “Killing’s easy, it’s living with it that’s the hardest part,” and, “It wasn’t personal, just business.”
The supporting cast are equally confused. De Niro’s very good as The Stath’s mentor, but his career choices increasingly feel like he lost a bet after Goodfellas, and Animal Kingdom’s excellent Ben Mendelsohn is in possession of just two lines (one of them simply a swearword) and a terrible Irish (we think) accent.
Ultimately, because of its ‘factional’ status, the film is left with a tonal dilemma it never solves: up the gung-ho quota and appear extremely crass, or up the remorse factor and kill all the fun. Far more than just another Transporter clone, and far less than the sum of its parts, the result is an oddity you couldn’t make up – unless you were Ranulph Fiennes.
By Matt Glasby, Flicks.co.nz
This was a fantastic movie but less action more story driven. So glad they got fantastic actors.
Fun while it lasts but instantly forgettable. This is a movie crafted around its marketing ploy of three names: Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro. A boy's own action thriller with pretentions to be "about" something. It plays out like one of Luc Besson's "high concept" Franco-American thrillers (from THE TRANSPORTER movies to garbage such as FROM PARIS WITH LOVE), fused with Tony Scott's SPY GAME or his brother Ridley's BODY OF LIES. It's fun, in a macho posturing shoot-em up occassionally kinda way - but a huge disappointment given the casting and the source material. You get the feeling on watching this that you've seen it all before. Why? Because you have! It's tired old formulaic action thriller fun. No suprises. Not too much nonsense. Two stars then. One for Statham, one for Owen, but none for De Niro, who should know better by now. Shame to see these three actors wasting their time and talents, but they must be laughing all the way to the bank... again!
Less a cerebral thriller than an underachieving time-waster with feeble pretensions.
This is actually a pretty good thriller, based more on character and plot than on action for its own sake.
A few good stunts, some tolerable brooding and one nice, if silly desert chase. But not essential.
The glossy topcoat provided by the paycheck participation of De Niro and Owen can't cover up the essential emptiness of the project.
Efficient, overly formulaic action piece could have been more distinctive but delivers the goods for solid international returns.
We've been told the NZ release date for this flick is Thursday, 16th Feb 2012.
Release date: February 16th 2012.
We haven't received times for this movie in this location yet. However these are updated as cinemas announce them, so check back soon. Hopefully the lovely cinemas in your location will choose to play it shortly. ~Ed.
