Movie Review: Killer Elite

Thursday, October 13, 2011

If you can look past the plot and garbled tough guy dialogue, Marty McKendry’s “Killer Elite” is a perfect espionage thriller with one or two memorably-staged action sequences. That’s the kindest thing that can be said for the newest Jason Statham vehicle, which pits the badass against fellow Brit action stud Clive Owen in a heady cocktail of spy vs. spy.

Statham plays Danny Bryce, who in standard spy movie fashion, has retired following a crisis of conscience during a routine assassination. Of course he’s soon thrust back into the life after receiving word that his mentor Hunter (a grizzled Robert De Niro) has been kidnapped by an Oman sheik, who demands that Bryce hunt down the three ex-SAS agents responsible for killing his sons.

Bryce’s biggest obstacle will be Clive Owen’s Spike, a spy hunter whose Feathermen division has been tasked with protecting former SAS operatives and their caché of dirty war secrets. Any scene featuring both Statham and Owen crackles with wicked intensity, with each actor calling on all his stubbly, drawling machismo to outmatch the other. Statham even manages to pull off a convincing fight scene while duct-taped to a chair.

Unfortunately, these moments of excellence are few and far between. The pacing drags and the rest of the cast fails to match the enthusiasm of the leads, especially De Niro, who essentially muddles through a role that at one time could have produced a classic performance. Yvonne Strahovski makes for curvaceous subplot as Statham’s Aussie paramour.

Frankly, it’s all a bloody shame, because with a few more good men and some tactical rewrites, “Killer Elite” could have been a direct hit.

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