Rent Killer Elite (2011)
3.2 of 5 from 149 ratings
2h 1min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
- Based on a true story, Killer Elite races across the globe from Australia to Paris, London and the Middle East in the action-packed account of an ex-special ops agent (Jason Statham) who is lured out of retirement to rescue his mentor (Robert De Niro). To make the rescue, he must complete a near-impossible mission of killing three tough-as-nails assassins with a cunning leader (Clive Owen).
- Actors:
- Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Dominic Purcell, Aden Young, Yvonne Strahovski, Ben Mendelsohn, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, David Whiteley, Matt Nable, Lachy Hulme, Firass Dirani, Nick Tate, Bille Brown, Stewart Morritt, Grant Bowler, Michael Dorman, Daniel Roberts, Rodney Afif, Jamie McDowell
- Directors:
- Gary McKendry
- Writers:
- Matt Sherring, Ranulph Fiennes
- Studio:
- Entertainment In Video
- Genres:
- Action & Adventure, Thrillers
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 16/01/2012
- Run Time:
- 126 minutes
- Languages:
- English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- DVD Regions:
- Region 2
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 2.35:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- Bonus:
- Making of
- Interview with Jason Statham
- Trailer
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Reviews (1) of Killer Elite
A terrible, boring & criminally badly made film, wasting the staggering talent involved - Killer Elite review by TB
Imagine you are directing your first film and you manage to get Robert De Niro, Clive Owen & Jason Statham to star in it. Then added to this, you get a $70 million budget, which is roughly $68 million more than most first-time film directors get to play with. This means that you have the ability to get the best stunt teams/action department available. And finally, you are adapting a celebrated although controversial novel by one of the UK most well-known ex-special forces authors and explorers.
You would think: what could go wrong? How could this not be an even halfway-decent film, with some great action to offset any script failings? And after watching the trailer, which even to this day still stands up to scrutiny as a brilliant action preview, I was absolutely pumped for this film.
And then it started...
This film is rubbish. Total and utter boring dreck. It takes a premise which should have been great (ex-special forces mentor kidnapped & his protégé forced to complete the job otherwise the mentor will be killed, whilst also battling against his old colleagues; so in other words, a perfect Statham vehicle,) and turns it into a movie full of schlocky dialogue, rubbish pacing & boring action.
The cast are wasted. Clive Owen & Jason Statham, who can both absolutely hold their own in action scenes & also have incredible screen presence, are reduced to chewing scenery & spouting off exposition. Their much hyped-up (in the trailer) confrontation is also a wasted opportunity, despite the considerable effort both men bring to the table. De Niro is also wasted, given a thankless part which requires him to sit in a cell for most of the film before being allowed to show his military credentials, in an action scene which is blink-and-you'll-miss-it length.
It is actually quite sad to see this decent cast bringing their A-game to a movie which simply doesn't deserve them or use them in any meaningful way. And like with other terrible films I've seen like this, if it wasn't for the A-list cast, you'd find this film in the bargain bin at your local Poundland.
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Critic review
Killer Elite review by Alyse Garner - Cinema Paradiso
Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert de Niro star in this action packed hit man movie, which was adapted from a book by Sir Ranulph Fiennes, that sees Statham doing “one last job” to save his mentor’s neck – literally.
De Niro plays Hunter, a master assassin, who has trained and now leads Statham’s character Danny and Davis (Dominic Purcell). An accident leads to Danny killing someone in front of his young son, making him decide to retire and return to his homeland of Australia. A year later however Danny is called back into the dangerous world of assassination when his mentor is held captive after not fulfilling a hit, Danny must step in and complete the task or risk loosing his friend and mentor forever.
From this point in the movie things begin to get a little complicated, the plot seems to have aimed higher than the movie can really reach, with more than one intricate twist that makes the film a little hard to follow.
A film starring Jason Statham, Robert de Niro and Clive Owen creates certain expectations in an audience, and to the films credit it fulfils all of these; there’s plenty of action, gun fire and explosions, but the plot distracts from all this a little too much. You can’t help but feel that if only director Gary McKendry could have simplified the story somewhat before bringing it to the screen.
All in all the film is exciting but the plot prevents it from really filling its action movie potential.