Review of Killer Elite (2011) by Rick R — 07 Nov 2013

Killer Elite (2011).

The first thing I thought was, here's Jason Statham remaking another 70s actioner, Sam Peckinpah's The Killer Elite (1975) with James Caan, but nope. It's not, and in fact, it's based on real events.

Danny Bryce (Statham) is a British SAS agent working various secret black ops killings across the world, with Hunter (Robert De Niro) as his long-time mentor. Danny wants to retire from killing after a botched operation, and happily starts to enjoy a calmer lifestyle in Australia, but soon people from his past start showing up.

Hunter has been taken prisoner by a former Oman despot, Sheik Amr (Rodney Affif) and will release Hunter once Danny kills the men who killed his three sons and got him kicked out of his country. This secret military society, the Feathermen (an offshoot of the SAS?) were instrumental in the battle of Mirbat and his outster. Danny must video tape the assassins' confessions before killing them, making it look like an accident. No small task since these are men who keep secrets for a living.

Spike (Clive Owen) is the manager of what's left of the Feathermen. He has to watch over his men, (many of whom are kind of battle-psychotic) and the secret leaders, who want results without having to get their hands dirty.

Killer Elite isn't really a fast-paced actioner, like these three actors have starred in past movies. It tries to be accurate, which tends to slow down the pacing, and be more dry than it perhaps should have come off to be more fun to watch. It's still a good movie and I recommend it.