'Killer Elite' is a killer bore

Release: September 23, 2011

Cast: Jason Statham (Danny), Clive Owen (Spike), Robert De Niro (Hunter), Yvonne Strahovski (Anne)

Director: Gary McKendy

Run Time: 1 hour 26 minutes    Rated: R

It's not wrong to expect more from action movies nowadays. I mean gun fire and explosions are key components to such films, but there is more that can be had with these films. With this way of thinking one might expect  far more from Killer Elite.

But that line of thinking only leads to disappointment.

Starting with the paper thin plot, Killer Elite is the story of two retired special-operations agents (Jason Statham and Robert De Niro) running into trouble when their mercenary work puts them up against a secret society and their never quitting leader (Clive Owen).

Killer Elite is based on actual events, and the source material for the film is a book, and I hope for all the readers out there currently reading The Feather Men (though I believe they changed the name to match the film's title) that the book is more complicated, interesting and just plain better than what is presented in this film.

Much of the film is full of humdrum action, and for the most part doesn't offer anything in the way of tension, which is an important element to have so as to create excitement.

I will admit that there is one great fight scene in the film between Statham and Owen in a small hospital room. They are beating the hell out of each other, there are quick close camera cuts, and it's very gritty.

Why couldn't the rest of the film be as good as that fight scene? Instead the film just plods along after this very well done throw down.

That's what Killer Elite does, it plods along, and as one gets closer to the end of the film, it feels even worse because it feels like the film is going to end five different times. By the time it finally ends, there is a sense of relief that the film is finally done, and this is a crime.

The biggest crime in the whole of the film is the underuse of Robert De Niro.

De Niro gives a few great lines, fires a few guns, and plays mentor to Statham's character but is mostly in the background of this film. You have a legendary actor like De Niro and yet he's filling up the background, I mean that just isn't right.

Another area that doesn't feel right is Statham's love interest played by Yvonne Strahovski. There is absolutely no reason to have her in this film, and when they use her finally, it feels like a poor attempt to make her a real part of the film.

This is too bad, because I like Strahovski, better known as Sarah on NBC's Chuck. I guess she expected that working on Killer Elite with De Niro meant working on a great action film.

What we expect, isn't always what we get. My expectations for a great film, with a cast I like doesn't come to pass with Killer Elite. Hell, I would have settled for a good movie, but that is not what this film is.

It's not wrong to expect more from the action movies we see these days, but when expecting more and getting less happens, the disappointment is far greater.

Grade: F