Killer Elite
Review by Anthony Morris
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Killer Elite
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There are two ways to use Jason Statham. Either you have him kicking
arse from start to finish, or you have him as a hard man who doesn’t
need to use his fists (much) to get the job done. Sadly,
Killer Elite goes the middle route, only letting him off the leash
occasionally but not giving him enough to do in the non-action scenes
to keep our attention. Which is strange, because this seemingly endless film's big problem is that it has way, way too many plotlines going on. The
year is 1980 and Danny (Statham) has giving up the hitman life after
almost killing a kid on a job in Mexico. A year later he’s living in
the Yarra Valley (this was filmed in Melbourne) when he's told his
mentor Hunter (Robert DeNiro) is being held captive and the only way
out is for Danny to take on the job Hunter wouldn’t : go and kill the
three SAS men that killed an Arab sheik’s three sons. Danny
puts together a team (Dominic Purcell, Aden Young) and reluctantly goes
to work, but no sooner has the first body hit the floor than Spike
(Clive Owen), an operative for a mysterious group of ex SAS soldiers
turned businessmen called The Feathermen, starts hunting them. There's
a bunch more twists after that as the film quickly becomes bogged down
in developments that slow things down even further without ever
actually becoming all that interesting. Unfortunately the
action isn’t all that exciting either, and the thrill of trying to spot
various Melbourne locations standing in for spots around the globe
isn’t enough to make this remotely entertaining. DeNiro at
least seems to be enjoying himself in a supporting role, but everyone
else is best described as dour. Which is probably how you’ll feel by
the time the credits roll.
2 out
of 5
Killer Elite
Australian release: 23rd February,
2012
Official
Site: Killer Elite
Cast: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Dominic Purcell, Aden Young
Director: Gary McKendry
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