It's funny how a trailer can make a film look like something completely different to what it is. The trailer for The Killer Elite portrayed a wham-bam Hollywood blockbuster, with it's quick editing and thumping 'Rock You Like A Hurricane' soundtrack, but in reality it's an early 1980's England set (mostly) action film based on a true story and while there's nothing wrong with that at all, after the exciting trailer, I was left slightly let down.
Jason Statham plays Danny, a former SAS agent whose mentor Hunter (Robert De Niro) has been taken captive. To secure Hunters freedom, Danny has to kill another 3 former SAS agents. As this is happening, an elite group of former SAS operatives is alerted, and dispatches their head enforcer, Spike (Clive Owen) to find out what's been going on, leading the inevitable face-off with Danny.
And what a face-off, just over 40 minutes into the film we are treated to a dream match of action stars, as Statham has a bruising battle with Owen, one of the many high octane moments in the film. Problem is, weighing in at nearly two hours long, the film does tend to drag in places.
But that isn't to say there's nothing to keep the viewer occupied. Statham, Owen and De Niro are all good in their roles, it's especially satisfying to see De Niro kick some ass throughout for some reason. Also entertaining was Dominic Purcell (from Prison Break) as one of Danny's colleagues, Davies. I had absolutely no idea Purcell was English, having only seen him in Prison Break, and he sports some heroic facial hair, even beating Owen's challenging mustache.
One cast member I was let down by was Danny's love interest Anne Frazier (Yvonne Strahovski), the character was so bland an non-dimensional, that anyone could have played it, which is quite the waste of a talented actress like Strahovski.
For Statham, it seems like another step up, working with the likes of De Niro (although I imagine some people regard it as a step down for De Niro...), but it's another solid Statham film, but like other period pieces he does like the Italian Job, he just seems frozen in time. Whether it's the 60's or the 80's he always looks Statham!
The Killer Elite (no relation to the 1975 film, by the way) is a solid enough slab of action entertainment, but it's slightly dingier and slowly paced than the epic trailer promised. Worth a watch for fans of the cast.
***
A slight let down, and about twenty minutes too long, but other than that, The Killer Elite is sufficient action film entertainment for anyone, and highlighted by a fantastic fight between the two hardnuts.
No comments:
Post a Comment