Killer Elite

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When I first saw the trailer for The Killer Elite I was excited. The teenager in me saw possibilities for a cheesy, but fun action film that didn't take itself too seriously and had a very interesting cast for such a production. On top of that cast was Robert De Niro, prominently featuring in the trailer holding an M16 - instantly evoking memories of Heat. The resulting production is miss-marketed to appeal to Jason Statham's core audience, and is densely plotted, but poorly paced pseudo-action flick.

Based on the apparently true story of a secret military group called "The Feather Men," the film centres on Jason Statham's ex-Special Forces solider, who wants out of the killing game. But when his mentor Hunter (De Niro) is kidnapped, he must take part in a dangerous mission to kill the members of an elite group headed up by Clive Owen's enigmatic, dangerous boss who took part in the slaying of a powerful sheik's family years before. Statham's hard-as-nails operative sets about assembling a team to off the highly trained soldiers, while being hunted himself.

The plot for The Killer Elite is actually very cool, and the set-up should lead to some fun, but realistic action. While there are sporadic skirmishes - which first timer director McKendry attempts to make it as realistic as possible - the film jumps around far too often and never engages. It's a real shame, because there was genuine potential for a fun action flick here, even one that is a tad more sombre than your regular Jason Statham starrer.

De Niro is completely wasted in a supporting role, while Statham brings his usual effortlessly gruff presence to proceedings. He looks like a former elite soldier, which certainly helps, but overly ponderous scenes flashing back to a girlfriend in Australia stink of desperation. They merely pose more questions like, Is Statham's character supposed to be an Aussie? Owen has a bit of fun with his guy, and the 80s setting is superbly brought across, but the script needed shaving down and streamlining of characters.

Despite a couple of fun moments towards the end, Killer Elite never gels. It's certainly not the film the trailers promises, and the hardcore Statham fans will be disappointed with that.