Movie review: ‘Killer Elite’ (2011)

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When “Killer Elite” came out, because of the title, I thought it was just another “reboot” trying to cash in on an original, so I intentionally avoided it even though I’m a fan of co-star Jason Statham. However, I found out that “Killer Elite” wasn’t trying to copy legendary director Sam Peckinpah’s effort called “The Killer Elite” with James Caan and Robert Duvall (click here to read my review), so I popped a copy into my DVD. “Killer Elite” (note the lack of “The” in the title) is based on a novel of a different name, but I still suspect that producers were trying to cash in on the Peckinpah original’s name. In any case, “Killer Elite” has good action and had the potential to be a good film. It doesn’t live up to that potential and I was correct in avoiding it for years.

‘Killer Elite’
(2011; 116 minutes; rated R; directed by Gary McKendry and starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro)

IT’S ALMOST OK, BUT MISSES ITS TARGET

I didn’t want to watch “Killer Elite” because, for a long time, I believed it would be a shoddy “reboot” of Sam Peckinpah’s “The Killer Elite” (click here to read my review). However, it is not a remake or “reboot” and I found that my primary evaluation of the film is that Clive Owen should have been the main focus of “Killer Elite” instead of Jason Statham.

The story of “Killer Elite” is from a novel that an author claims is based on fact (but many disagree) and has Statham and his team working to rescue Robert De Niro’s character, who’s being held for ransom. The ransom is that someone wants revenge by killing some former British SAS troopers, but once he heard details about the contract, De Niro tried to walk away, was nabbed and is being held hostage so that his fellow mercenaries, led by Statham, will do the job. Owen is the man leading the opposition against Statham and his mission.

I’m not going to write much about “Killer Elite’s” storyline beyond the fact that it actually tries to become a motion picture toward the end with some engagements between Statham and Owen because early on, the screenplay is just actors on screen moving from one action scene to another. It is an attempt at somewhat of a complicated plot, so you’ll need to stay somewhat focused on it … or maybe not.

Statham’s “emotional” scenes with his love interest are throwaway at best; the action is good; and I was most impressed with Owen’s work as the character who should have been the “baddest bad guy,” but really isn’t.

So, here’s a look at the top of the cast …

  • Statham plays “Danny Bryce” and he’s a mercenary who has quit due to his conscience but is forced back when De Niro is held for ransom. He does his usual solid job of stoicism in front of the camera in both action and emotional moments, but, like in other of his films, he doesn’t manage to elevate his character into be memorable. I liked Statham in “The Beekeeper” (click here to read my review) and in the reboot of “The Italian Job.” He’s also been in “Spy” (click here to read my review), “The Transporter” franchise, but while he is watchable in it, the reboot of “The Mechanic” (click here to read my review) from the same year as this one is awful. Another stinker he’s been in is “The Meg” (click here to read my review) and even worse was that he did the sequel.
  • An Oscar nominee (not for this one), Owen as “Spike Logan” gives the best performance and makes his character interesting. It’s too bad that the SAS (British commandos) had to be the target and Owen the point man for a shadowy group of ex-SAS called “The Feathermen” because of their skullduggery behind the scenes in protecting the SAS men. Owen would have been a terrific “good guy” and he’s quite solid as one of the opposition in this one. Owen was nominated for Mike Nichols’ “Closer” with Natalie Portman and Jude Law. He was also in “Gosford Park” as well as being one of the most vile, disgusting “action” flicks with “Shoot ’Em Up” with the equally excellent Paul Giamatti (click here for my look at that one).
  • A two-time Oscar winner and seven-time nominee (not for this one) and a Golden Globe winner and nine-time nominee (not for this one), DeNiro got this role simply because he’s Robert De Niro. He’s too old for the character (a machine gun-toting mercenary), but has only some action and his few moments of true acting are true De Niro: a delight to watch. He was in a couple of comedies: “About My Father” (click here to read my review) and “Dirty Grandpa” with Zac Efron (click here to read my review). De Niro won his first Oscar for “The Godfather Part II” and his second for “Raging Bull.” He should have won both an Oscar and Globe for “The Deer Hunter” and his CV is much to extensive to even begin to outline in this review. Click here to read all his awards … or click here to read all his acting credits …
  • Dominic Purcell plays “Davies” and I’m not sure this was the best casting decision for this film. He doesn’t convey his character in any way and I’m not sure, given the screenplay and what his character is asked to do, what any other actor could have done with it. He doesn’t come off as threatening as an “elite” killer should have been portrayed. Purcell has been in “Blade: Trinity” as well as “Assault on Wall Street” to name just two from the top of a undistinguished list of credits.
  • Aden Young plays “Meier,” who is the last member of Statham’s original group. I found his character to have the most potential, but was not given enough time nor the storyline to elevate his character. Young always appears as if he’s ready to break out and show you a lot more, but just never gets the chance to do it. Young has been in “I, Frankenstein” and “The Unseen” and most recently with the tee-vee series “Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.”
  • A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) and a two-time Primetime Emmy nominee, Yvonne Strahovski is “Anne Frazier” and is the actor whose character has absolutely no chance of development. As the love interest of Statham, she’s basically lost in the film and that’s despite being part of the ending. Strahovski earned all of her nominations for her work in the tee-vee series “The Handmaid’s Tale” and has worked mostly on TV series including “Dexter” for 17 episodes. She was in “I, Frankenstein” with Young.
  • Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje plays the treacherous “Agent” and gets more screen time than the character deserves. I guess he does an OK job, but there’s very little to work with in being “The Agent,” despite a showdown scene near the end. Akinnuoye-Agbaje also has worked primarily in television and has been in films such as “The Union.”

Beyond the top of the cast you don’t get much in the way of actors with whom you are familiar.

I guess the weakest link in this movie’s chain is the screenplay, which is based on a novel. Some of the details defy logic, such as believing that the SAS mercenaries as they’re being killed would go on video to admit to killing someone. Or how easily the victims are to find. Ah well, to “suspend your disbelief” is a longtime concept in filmmaking.

Lastly comes the sins of the director.

An Oscar nominee (for some short flick, not this one), director Gary McHendry is somewhat uneven, but, then again, I don’t believe he had the chance to direct a winner since action was always going to trump acting in what the producers wanted to see. McHendry was nominated for a “worst” in direction for “Killer Elite” and he deserves it … for the most part.

“Killer Elite” is not a disaster, yet he had a chance to do a much better job. Too bad, but McHendry didn’t manage to elevate his work or the film. McHendry was nominated for “Everything in this Country Must,” which is a drama focused on Northern Ireland. He has a very slim resume (click here to what little there is …) and I’ve already mentioned his best work.

“Killer Elite” was the 111th ranked film with just a miserable $25.1 million in tickets sold at U.S. theaters, according to Box Office Mojo. The No. 1 film was “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” with $381 million. Coming in at No. 2 was “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” with $352.3 million and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” was third with $274.8 million. Here are the films from 2011 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • De Niro is the only U.S.-born actor in film.
  • The author of the book on which the film is based, Ranulph Fiennes, is not related to the actor Ralph Fiennes.
  • Click here for IMDb.com’s trivia page (hint: it has very few items) …
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: Sorry, but this is long … “Sir Ranulph Fiennes, an English adventurer, polar explorer and former S.A.S. man is the author of The Feather Men, the novel on which this film is adapted. Although he has often claimed the novel was a true story, the families of the real dead S.A.S. men named in the novel who died on S.A.S. exercises, and the S.A.S. themselves publicly attacked it as sick exploitation and complete fiction. The S.A.S. even went on the record to disown both Fiennes and the book, with Lieutenant Colonel Ian Smith telling the Daily Mail ‘It was utter bullshit, the figment of a fertile imagination. What was really upsetting, was that it was making a story out of a tragedy.’ Maggie Denaro, the widow of one of the dead S.A.S. men said of Fiennes, ‘It’s time he grew up. He’s made his money out of the book. He should come clean. When the book came out saying Mike had been murdered, we knew it wasn’t true. But that didn’t stop our children from being upset when other people believed it.’ Although Fiennes claims he sent a manuscript of the book to the S.A.S. and the families of the dead men, who gave their approval, they have all unequivocally denied his claim.”

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