Killer Elite

Der Film wirkt länger, als er in Wirklichkeit ist – wegen den Handlungszusätzen in der zweiten Hälfte. Gerade die ist aber dank dem größeren Engagement von Owens Figur besser als die uninteressante und langweilige erste Hälfte. Ohne Owen, der für Statham ein würdiger Gegner ist, stockt der Film am Anfang. De Niros Anwesenheit ist fast ikonisch. Die Bemühung, Stathams Figur durch die Blondine in seltsamen Gummistiefeln menschlicher wirken zu lassen, hält den Film überflüssig auf. Die Actionszenen sind absolut standardmäßig. Die Old-School-Atmosphäre ist OK, McKendry ist ein eindeutiger Fan von Frankenheimer-Filmen. (17.10.2011)

Compared to the trailers, it's quite a decent bit of entertainment, which is surprisingly brought down by not being as dumb as it originally looked. However, the grafting of a tangled plot, with political intrigue in the background, onto a through-and-through B-movie concept, brings down the impressions quite dramatically, although in each position separately the film is quite decent. Statham's physical abilities have once again found proper use for once, and De Niro is finally in a role that suits him after a hell of a long time. In the end, we are left with a decent silly film that doesn't completely offend but also leaves us with a slightly awkward impression from the two-hour runtime. (15.11.2011)

When something looks and functions like a B-movie, then it is a B-movie. The concept could have been handled more seriously and could have resulted in a significant sociopolitical drama in the style of Paul Greengrass' works, but Gary McKendry chose the path of pure entertainment. Killer Elite is one of the few cases where I not only don't mind the genre definition of a B-action film, but I also actually quite enjoy it. The solid cast also plays a part in that, with Jason Statham capable of delivering a performance and Clive Owen being at the top of his game. The title represents essentially the same thing to me as, say, Commando does to someone else (which would be unbearably dull for me). I enjoyed the battle between mercenaries and members of the elite British SAS, and for that, I will reward it with a 75% overall impression. (07.10.2015)

Appearances are deceitful, Killer Elite is indeed pleasantly old-school (raw image, 80s), but it is not nearly as dynamic as I would have expected from Statham, nor is it as kinetic in terms of action as I would have wished for (the main fight between Owen and Statham is boring, only the editing is good, it lacks physicality, the punches don't hurt), there is a lack of blood, a lack of toughness and naturalism. The polished image and filters are not enough. De Niro is okay, it's a shame he has little screen time. The lady with the horses is quite irritating, I don't understand how she was taken so seriously. Similarly, some of visual effects (bullet in the hair like in Drive, etc.), borrowed from elsewhere, are just unfortunate. Hardly average. (23.12.2011)

Ha, und angeblich soll es kein Leben nach dem Tod geben. John Frankenheimer ist zwar vor zehn Jahren gestorben, im Jahr 2011 ist aber der Film Killer Elite entstanden, der in jeder Hinsicht Frankenheimers Handschrift trägt. Ich weiß nicht, ob Gary McKendry Frankenheimers Geist geholfen hat oder ob er seine Reinkarnation ist (das werden erst seine weiteren Filme zeigen). Das ist aber eigentlich egal. Das Wichtigste ist, dass es in dem Film Action gibt und dass sie realistisch, schlicht und hart ist und weder digitale Effekte noch Aufnahmen in Zeitlupe hat. Ich habe z. B. schon lange keine so schöne Prügelei wie Stathams und Owens Krankenhausszene gesehen. Vor und nach dieser Szene kommen noch viele andere Delikatessen (die Verfolgung im Oman, die Autoverfolgungsjagd in London, alle Szenen mit der Beseitigung der SAS-Angehörigen, der am Stuhl angebundene Statham, das perfekte Finale), die es lange nicht gegeben hat (die einzige Ausnahme sind vielleicht Craigs James-Bond-Filme). Es besteht also kein Grund zur Unzufriedenheit. Die drei Hauptdarsteller waren super. Ich habe mich vor allem darüber gefreut, dass Robert De Niro nicht im Hintergrund geblieben ist, sondern eine ziemlich große Rolle bekommen hat. Das Drehbuch hätte auf die Geschichte mit Stathams Freundin verzichten können. Seine Bemühungen, ernst und raffiniert zu wirken, waren auch nicht nötig. (03.02.2012)

When someone has such aces in their hands, like Jason Statham, Clive Owen, but primarily Robert De Niro, it must take talent to not make something worthwhile out of it. Gary McKendry showed that such potential can easily be killed, without even batting an eye. Well, he had a story in his hands that wants to present itself as a political thriller with lots of killers, but in reality, it's a shooter set in the 80s, which one can basically only tell by the fact that most guys have a mustache or heavily overgrown sideburns. However, I still think that the director should be there to give it some juice if he finds it boring. McKendry obviously refused to put more into the film than necessary. He chose great actors, made a few nice scenes, especially action scenes, but everything drowned in a single plotline that completely lacks twists. I basically saw the film as a flatline that appears on the monitor when a patient dies. At first, it may have seemed like defibrillation would work, but in the end, the doctors had to confirm that the patient was dead and nothing would help him. It only remained to cover him with a blanket and record the time of death. What a pity. Robert De Niro has several great scenes. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/07/runaways-rok-jedna-nedotknutelni-johnny.html (22.02.2013)