The Killer Elite

Reviews from the Dark Side presents:
The Killer Elite
Released in 2011, now on DVD

Supposedly based on a true story, The Killer Elite Jason Statham, Robert DeNiro, and Clive Owen as three very dangerous killers that cross paths in complicated conspiracy in the 1980's.

The movie begins in Mexico where we find Statham (Danny), DeNiro (Hunter) and another mercenary (Davies) on a covert ops mission of assassination.  Danny and Hunter are friends in blood that seem to have known each other for quite awhile.  After the somewhat botched mission  ends up getting Danny shot in the arm, Danny decides he's had enough of the covert ops biz and retires.


Flash forward one year later and we find Danny trying to enjoy his retirement in Australia.  he receives a mysterious package in the mail  that has a picture of Hunter being held captive.  Two days later, Danny is in Oman to meet the man who has captured Hunter.  The captor is an ex-Shah who is holding Hunter to obtain Danny's services for an impossible mission.  Hunter originally accepted the Sheik's mission for a $6 million bounty and failed. The former king has a very serious dislike for Great Britain due to three of his four sons meeting their end at the hands of the British SAS (British Special Forces) during hostilities between Britain and Oman.  The Sheik was deposed and forced into obscurity in the deserts of Oman.  The Sheik's mission for Danny is threefold:
1.  Find the SAS operatives that killed his sons;
2.  Kill said operatives and get their confessions on tape before their deaths;
3.  Make the killings appear to be accidents so the British government doesn't rain Hell on Oman.

The killings will allow the Sheik's fourth and only surviving son to return to the Sheik's former power.  It seems the old Sheik only has months left to live and wants to leave his son a kingdom.  If Danny fails, Hunter dies.  A tough task for Danny as the SAS, in the words of Davies later in the movie, make the Navy SEALS look like cupcakes.  Danny makes one failed attempt to rescue Hunter from the Sheikh's compound, and then he's off to see the wizard, er, first of the three SAS operatives, Steven Harris, who is already conveniently living in Oman.

Danny enlists the aid of two former colleagues, Davies and Meier.  He will let Davies and Meier split the $6 million reward.  Danny's only concern is for his friend, Hunter.  The team successfully hunts down the SAS on the hit list, losing Meier in the process.  During the pursuit that leads from Oman back to London, they are pursued by another SAS operative, Logan (Owen), who has been set on their trail by a secret cabal of former SAS (known as the Feathermen) that want to keep the force's activities in Oman during the fighting a secret.  Apparently they did some very bad things there that would be embarassing if revealed.  Oh, and another problem.  The kill on the last SAS, Simon McCann, is botched and the team is unable to tape his confession.  Now what does a skilled assassin/mercenary do in this type of situation?  Why you stage the scene and fake the confession of course!  Hey, don't knock it, it actually works!  Hunter is released and both he and Danny go back to their lives.  The Sheik holds the money while he authenticates the killings.  Davies has an unfortunate meeting with a semi as he tries to escape Logan's men who have caught up to him. 

Now you know better than to think this is going to end in a nice neat little bundle right?  There is a fourth SAS involved in the killings, Ranulph Fiennes, who is about to release a book about his experiences in the SAS.   It's also revealed that the first target, Steven Harris, was an innocent man (he did mockingly admit that he was guilty when he was tied up).  Danny goes after Ranulph and is captured by Logan, who has a team protecting him.  Before capture he is able to infiltrate the building where the author is housed and stages another scene to make it appear as if Ranulph is dead (he only wounds Ranulph) and takes pictures.  Danny has had more this is fill of killing.  Danny is able to escape with the timely intervention of a British government agent.  Seems the British government doesn't like secret societies like the Feathermen.  It's bad for business, particularly since if the Sheik's son is in power they might have access to valuable oil fields.  In a three way slugfest, the British agent is killed by Logan. 

Now it's a race against the clock as Danny, Hunter, and Logan race back to Oman to meet the Sheik.  Logan reaches him first to inform him that Danny's photos are fake and then stabs the old man to death.  Seems number four son has no love for dear old dad making him the soon to be  king of a desert nation and gives Logan the money intended for Danny.  Danny and Hunter see Logan leaving when they arrive and pursue him along with the Sheik's men.  Danny and Hunter stop them and confront Logan on a desert road.  Hunter takes some of the money for himself and his family and the two leave the rest with Logan.  Logan has a decision to make as he's made a lot of very important people angry.  He killed the British agent that provided the diversion for Danny to escape and he has defied the Feathermen.  He has enough money to disappear.  What will he do?  Not important as the movie ends with Danny arriving in France to meet his girlfriend to start his life anew. 

There is a secondary story involving the relationship of Danny and his girlfriend and Danny having to protect her from his former life. 

I'm a little on the fence with this one.  In my mind, right or wrong, I kind of thought going in it was going to be a battle of wills between three highly proficient killers.  Movie wasn't even remotely about that which left me a little disappointed.  There wasn't quite as much action as I thought there would be, but the action that's in it is pretty good.  There are two nice fights between Danny and Logan and Danny/Logan/British Agent.  I've read that Jason Statham has no formal martial arts training.  He fakes it very well in his movies.  Gotta love Clive Owen rockin' the porn 'stache and DeNiro rockin' a little Grizzly Adams. 

Overall, I'll say it's good and worth watching once.  The Darth Lord of the Sith gives this one:


                                      *** out of 5

Ratings Legend
Zero *= Don't waste your time. Pure dreck! Dreck is too good for this! Blind me please!
1 *= Fuggedaboutit!
2 *= Average, Mediocre, Nothing Special
3 *= Good viewing. Much better than a poke in the eye.
4 *= Great. Could possibly foot the price of a non-Matinee. Buy this on DVD when released!
5 *= Pure eye candy. Hall of Fame material here. Get this DVD goes without saying.