Killer Elite: The Statham Strategy

Killer Elite is one of those movies that’s based on a book, and then that very book shows up within the story as the plot develops, essentially collapsing the world into itself since we’re now watching a movie based on a book that exists within its own cinematic adaptation. It’s also a Jason Statham vehicle. I’ll wait while you pick up the remnants of brain matter that used to be your mind.

Honestly, no Jason Statham movie should be based on a book. I don’t even care if the book is an unverified tale of international intrigue about a retired hitman pulled back into the business after his mentor gets kidnapped and held hostage until three ex-British Special Forces agents get assassinated. Statham is the Transporter. He’s Chev Chelios. He’s the Mechanic. He’s a miraculous 1990s action-star who somehow time-traveled into the 2000s to make movies that would’ve starred Van Damme or Seagal back in his own time during which he just couldn’t gain traction himself. He’s not a guy that stars in non-fiction adaptations.

But Killer Elite is hardly your typical book-to-screen flick. Instead, it’s your typical Jason Statham flick, with some star wattage added in an attempt to lend credibility to the project in Clive Owen and Robert De Niro – although the latter only brings so much cache these days. While their presence doesn’t elevate this beyond being a mindless action flick full of ridiculous fight scenes that no one could survive without being rendered comatose, they do play their parts well. Owen is entertaining and believable as an obsessed ex-SAS agent who is convinced that former members from his team are being executed even if he can’t quite convince the secret society of ex-SAS members who meet regularly to do clandestine operations despite all being well past the age of being bombarded with AARP mailers. (Way more believable since it’s based on a book, right?) And De Niro is solid, most likely because he disappears during most of the second act – as is the case when your character is locked away in a room in Oman.

And Statham is, well, Statham. He’s brooding. He quips his flat one-liners. He beds the hot women. He generally kicks copious amounts of posterior with aplomb. So while the plot tries to get deeper than the traditional Statham adventure – something about the British having been involved in the Oman war in the 1970s despite no public admittance of said involvement and now the Sheikh wants revenge on the SAS agents who killed three of his sons – it ends up being all for nothing.

By telling the story through the eyes of a mercenary who couldn’t care less about the politics of the plot since all he wants to do is save his friend and get out of the business for good, we couldn’t care less, either. Even when the eventual twists come to light, it’s all resolved in the same way: fight your way out. There’s no clever diplomacy going on here or revelations as to the inner-workings of secret government ops. Unless of course the revelation is that all you need is Jason Statham on your side, and you can do anything and beat anyone. Which maybe it is.

While the title and overall proceedings would likely doom a movie to dismal direct-to-DVD status, there is a shining moment: Dominic Purcell. This is the second film of the summer for Purcell and another solid performance – the other being in Straw Dogs. He plays one of Statham’s teammates, a Welshman named Davies, and he steals every scene he’s in. I never saw Purcell in Prison Break but, based on his build and previous roles in Blade: Trinity and Primeval, I figured he wasn’t much more than just a heavy. I was wrong. He’s charming, has solid comedic timing, and creates character depth for what should’ve been just another forgettable role.

Unfortunately, Purcell couldn’t make the film worthwhile on his performance alone, leaving this as a fairly pointless entry in the oeuvre of Jason “Crank” Statham.