Killer Elite [Blu-Ray]

Reviews DVD Jan 18 2012

By Robert BellAccording to the world of action thrillers and all movies pertaining to male stoicism and honour, you can never retire from any sort of covert ops or government service lest your sheer awesomeness and ability find you drawn or forced back in. Similarly, should you plan to leave the police force or FBI, or what not, you will inevitably die within a week of your quitting date, seeing as a man is his job. Perhaps if someone had filled Danny (Jason Statham) – a retired member of the British SAS – in on these rules, he might not have been blackmailed by an Omani sheikh to off the British mercenaries responsible for the death of his three sons. It doesn't seem to matter that his acquiescence to this forceful request pivots on the lives of many in exchange for that of his older kidnapped buddy, Hunter (Robert De Niro), especially when it all becomes a head-to-head pissing contest between Danny and another ex-SAS agent, Spike (Clive Owen). In this midst of this vague commentary on the quiet war between England and Oman over oil back in the early '80s, which amusingly steps back on occasion to insult punks, there are a series of elaborate murders involving hammers to the back of the head and remote controlled car accidents. There are also multiple fights and chase sequences between Statham and Owen, occasionally divided up by unnecessary boob shots. In short, it's a bunch of aggressive male nonsense that's necessarily defined as "inspired by" rather than "based on" a supposed true story. Perhaps if it hadn't been directed like a generic network television show, or some effort had been made to inject the script with something other than dry exposition and a superficial, supposedly humanizing romance between Statham and Yvonne Strahovski, this overwrought game of assassins could have entertained in a popcorn capacity. As it stands, there's little going on here beyond some laughable grunting and posturing amongst a cast capable of much more. Seemingly, everyone was aware of the generic and forgettable nature of the film, which is why there are no supplements beyond the standard PR-approved interviews included.
(eOne)

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