Killer Elite.

When I wrote about The Mechanic (2010) I said that with Jason Statham you get what’s written on the tin, gun battles, explosions, car chases, in short an action adventure for undemanding grown up children, but what you never get is boredom: I lied!!! I’ve now had the dubious pleasure of watching Killer Elite, made later the same year, and what you get with this film is a thriller without the thrills and in fact considering what an interesting story it could have been, its quite boring and uninteresting.

Statham plays an ex-mercenary, Danny, who is brought back from what passes as domestic bliss in a Statham film, well you don’t really expect to see pipe and slippers, by an Dubai oil sheikh to kill three, or was it four, ex-SAS types. The sheikh claims that the soldiers are responsible for killing his sons and in exchange for this wee task he will release Danny’s ex-partner Hunter (Robert De Niro) who for some reason is locked in a cell in the potentate’s basement. The plot, what there is of it, also involves corrupt British government ministers, The Feather Men a group of British businessmen and bankers, lots of villains to chose from in this movie I hear you say, and Clive Owen who plays somebody called Spike who also seems to be ex-forces and I think works for The Feather Men!  I’ll not go on!!!

Although it’s based on the 1991 novel The Feather Men, an alleged fact based book by ex-SAS officer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, the movie is totally unconvincing and completely un-engaging, there are plot holes the size of volcanic craters and the acting is abysmal, the terrible dialogue does not help either. Statham doesn’t do romance so why has director Gary McKendry, in his debut feature film, tacked on an amorous liaison between Danny and an Australian girl which adds nothing to the narrative. Spare us all from these lame throwaway movies, I want my two hours back!!!!!!The Mechanic (2011)