Rating of
3/4
"Killer Elite" by Yojimbo
Yojimbo - wrote on 12/24/13
A retired black ops killer for hire is pulled back into the business when his friend is held hostage by an oil sheikh seeking retribution against the SAS for assassinating his sons. On the surface of it, Killer Elite is very much an example of business as usual for Jason Statham in what appears to be just another bone-headed but watchably efficient, testosterone-fuelled action thriller. What marks it out from the majority of Statham's action canon is the above par cast and the fact that the implausible plot is actually based on true events. This fact gives the film more credibility than it would have and as so becomes far more interesting. The result is kind of like The Bank Job meets Mission Impossible and thanks to the strong action sequences and watchable stars it's strangely compelling despite some dubious casting decisions. Undeserving of the critical savaging it suffered on its release, Killer Elite should satisfy action junkies and those looking for a more off-beat political thriller both.
