6/10
Killer Elite is saddled with a vague and forgettable title
but at least it sounds more lethal than the book it is based on by Sir Ranulph
Fiennes, “The Feather Men”. An evil
cabal known as the Feather Men does not inspire too much fear. These ex-SAS (Special Air Service) members,
and now business leaders, chose the name themselves to signify their light
touch on situations which concern them.
Shady characters are starting to ask around about an old mission in Oman
involving SAS men and this falls right in the wheelhouse of issues the Feather
Men are watching out for.
The Feather Men novel is allegedly based on a true story but
none of the facts have ever been verified.
Sir Fiennes described the book as ‘factional’ which does not bode well
for the story’s authenticity. However,
the plot is intriguing, especially for a shoot ‘em up first, ask questions
later action fest. The background and set
up are complicated enough which makes you want to follow it closely. I do not want to provide an exact plot
synopsis but essentially Danny Bryce (Jason Statham) must kill some ex-SAS
men to save his assassin mentor (Robert De Niro) from some Omani oil
sheiks. Spike Logan (Clive
Owen), also an ex-SAS man but not one of the marked men, has his sixth
sense kick into overdrive and tries to save his mates from Danny’s bullets as a
good Feather Man would. Sir Fiennes
actually claims to be one of those marked SAS men.
The script portrays Danny as an assassin who has lost his
taste for killing and vows after every trigger pull that “this is my last job”. He is supposedly from Australia but oddly
maintains a thick and native British accent.
Since every assassin must have someone to come home to, his girlfriend
Anne (Yvonne Strahovski) waits impatiently for him as he disappears
on his missions. Strahovski is a real
life Australian and has a matching accent to prove it. She has been outstanding in the Chuck
series so it is enjoyable to see her finally cross over into mainstream
film.
Even though the plot is deeper than your average thriller,
the dialogue does not rise above mediocrity and has the exact same platitudes
as most other actions films. The worst
example is:
“He knew what he was getting into when he joined the club.”
“What club?”
“The killer’s club.”
There is also the obligatory conversation about the woe is
me assassin which includes the gem, “The killing is easy, living with it is
hard.”
First time feature film director Gary McKendry is very
good at filming one on one hand fighting scenes. Statham and Owen impressively use the entire
room and every prop in it to beat each other senseless. For the ladies, they still keep their film
star looks even after they are done taking turns butchering each other. What McKendry has yet to master are car
chases. The edits are too fast which
turns each of them into a messy muddle.
Opening one weekend after Drive which contains outstanding car
sequences makes these awkward scenes in the Killer Elite look even worse by
comparison.
The overall look to the Killer Elite is good however. Even though it was mainly shot in Melbourne,
the skies are usually England gray and the Brecon Beacons mountain range
sequence is shot well. This film is
right in that middle range where I am unsure still at this point rather to
recommend it or not. It is much better
than the garbage in its genre such as The Expendables but fails to reach
up to the higher level of Crank or The Bank Job. I suppose I marginally recommend the Killer
Elite for its absorbing plot and intricate assassination sequences, but be
warned, this film is not anything more than average.
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