Monday, 6 February 2012

ONE TO WATCH: KILLER ELITE (DVD)



"Jason Statham is back for ‘one last job’ when his mentor’s (Robert De Niro) taken captive by enemy forces. Stretching his acting muscles to the limit, Statham plays a retired member of Britain’s Elite Special Air Service. His mission: to kill three expert assassins guilty of murder and win the release of his old friend. Clive Owen sports a dodgy moustache in order to thwart Jason’s heroic attempts, and Dominic Purcell (Prison Break) grows an even dodgier one in order to steal the film from under them.

Let’s be clear on this - Dominic Purcell has never made a decent movie. He wasn’t even memorable in Prison Break, but with Killer Elite he has made a mark on me. I thought he was putting on a remarkable British accent; then I discovered he was born in England. Kind of takes the shine off it a little bit. Gary Mckendry takes to the hot seat and should be applauded for keeping the action sequences grounded in reality. Clive and ‘our Jase’ don’t come to blows as often as you’d like, but when they do it’s electrifying. Don’t be disturbed by the ‘based on a true story’ tag either; the ridiculous facial hair ensures that we don’t take things too seriously.

It’s not exactly perfect viewing. Killer Elite gets bogged down in complicated plot strands, questionable dialogue and romantic subplots that lead nowhere fast. My girlfriend would also like to point out that Bobby could do with a few lessons in ‘how to hold a gun in a threatening matter’. Other than that she was pretty much sold. Statham kicks enemy ass better than anyone right now and Killer Elite isn’t about to change that. Sticking to what you do best has proved fruitful thus far, now if only Bruce would hand over the Die Hard series, we may have found a worthy replacement." AW 


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