Killer Elite is a Jason Statham movie, which has nearly become a genre of its own by now. What one expects from a “Statham” film, he or she usually gets. In archetype, swagger and structure, this fits the Statham mold. The brighter moments of the actor’s genre are present and fun, as well as the less-fun moments.
Very few actors do what Statham does well. There’s a charm to his machismo, and he always delivers external performances. Statham isn’t someone that’s ever proved himself as an actor capable of internal work, but then the films he does never require that type of acting. The Crank star is like a rare and lost artifact from the 80s who got frozen, then was woken up in 21st Century to bring manliness back to the action genre.
Sadly, Killer Elite keeps Statham’s patented machismo grounded in believability.
Not in terms of realism, but in structure and tone. Instead of running at the pace of a bullet, everything runs slow. Rather than recognizing the ridiculousness of all the situations, it’s taken perhaps too seriously. The tone is uneven. It’s usually for the better when cheesy situations are played with a straight face, but this goes a bit too straight faced. The cast and crew certainly must have known what movie they were making, but at times, it doesn’t always show through.
If an all-out serious film was made around these characters – Danny (Jason Statham), Spike (Clive Owen), and Hunter (Robert De Niro) – the final result could/would have been more memorable, as would have the full on cheese-ball version. There is an engaging thematic briefly touched upon that is given no due or time to develop: Danny, to most of the characters in the film, could be seen as the villain. The film tries to get you on his side — mainly with a schmaltzy romance — but he’s never a character that you care for if he survives or not, which makes plenty of the action sequences lack investable stakes.
This is a film where the sum of the whole doesn’t match some its grander pieces, which there are a few of. There’s some well-choreographed fights and a refreshing use of practical effects, but when Statham & Co. aren’t in action mode, which is the unfortunate majority of the time, Killer Elite is stilted. With a brisker pace and a better handle of tone, this could have been the excellent actioner that these slick set-pieces deserve to be in.