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If you go to the movies to go to sleep, “Killer Elite” is your hot ticket — and let’s not forget we’re talking about a shoot-’em-up espionage thriller here. So uninvolving (and frequently incomprehensible) is this supposedly fact-based film’s supposed action that you may have to close your eyes to fend off boredom-induced mania. I’m not ashamed to admit that, most often, I hadn’t the slightest clue what was happening from moment-to-moment. Why’d this guy kill that guy? Who was that guy anyway? What are the stakes? From where I sat, I saw little discernible context in the brain-straining events, but, then, maybe I just dozed off.
“You’re part of the 2 percent of men who are natural killers,” one character says to another in the provocative peak of Matt Sherring’s script. If you’re part of the, let’s say, 22 percent who are dying to see sellout king Jason Statham square off against fellow gun-happy Brit Clive Owen, then you’ve got at least one reason to see this movie. Statham is an ex-special ops agent lured back into the game by a vengeance-seeking, desert-dwelling sheikh, and Owen is his nemesis — the deadly point man for a shady U.K. society whose motives are confusing despite oodles of expository chatter. Upping his profile as the most respected veteran actor with the lousiest over-the-hill career, Robert De Niro also appears, basically to remind you he can still pull triggers and break jaws.
With the multiple double-crosses and flip-flopping morals in regard to the Middle East element (which, you know, has much to do with oil), it’s clear that Irish director Gary McKendry has a mind for commentary, be it a European self-critique or a dig at plain old terroristic villainy.
But, honestly, outlining the global relevance of “Killer Elite” is like examining the emotional nuances of “Transformers 3.” It ain’t worth a sliver of your mental effort, and even for action fans, it’s an endless slog that’ll have you reaching for your own gun.
Killer Elite
R
One reel out of four
Opens tomorrow in area theaters
Recommended Rental
Carlos
Not Rated
Available Tuesday
Esteemed auteur Olivier Assayas’s sprawling 2010 epic, “Carlos,” finally gets the Criterion treatment in a four-disc DVD set, containing all 330 minutes of the acclaimed account of international terrorist Ramírez Sanchez, aka Carlos the Jackal. In the star-making performance that netted him a heap of awards and nominations, Edgar Ramirez is electrifying as the title character, and reason enough to put the film on your must-see list. SPR
Contact the South Philly Review at editor@southphillyreview.com.
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