For most film fans, any mention of the Fiennes clan is immediately followed by the names Ralph and Joseph, with their respective acting efforts in Schindler’s List and Shakespeare in Love internationally known. However, the family moniker also belongs to their cousin Ranulph, a writer, adventurer and one-time British Army officer. It is his guise as the latter that has brought him to cinema, courtesy of his talents as the former. After serving in the counter-insurgency unit during his deployment in the Sultan of Oman, he controversially merged his exploits with fiction in the best-seller The Feather Men. More than two decades later, film adaptation Killer Elite reaches screens.
After a successful but eventful Mexican escapade, mercenary Danny Bryce (Jason Statham, The Mechanic) abandons killing for hire in favour of a quiet life in Australia. Alas, a year later his former partner Hunter (Robert De Niro, The Ages of Love) is captured by a revenge-seeking Sheikh, with Danny’s involvement in his vengeance spree the price for his release. Tasked with executing the army officers responsible for assassinating the Sheikh’s sons, Danny scours the globe for his targets. When former military man turned secret society enforcer Spike Logan (Clive Owen, The Boys are Back) hears of the operation, he sets out to stop Danny, however the two men may be on the same side.
With much of the production taking place in Melbourne, it is far from surprising to see a veritable who’s who of Australian actors among the cast. Indeed, the majority of supporting roles are played by familiar local faces, including Dominic Purcell (TV’s Prison Break), Aden Young (The Tree) and Matt Dorman (Sleeping Beauty) as Danny’s offsiders, Yvonne Strahovski (I Love You Too) as his love interest, and Lachy Hulme (Any Questions for Ben?) and Grant Bowler (Satisfaction) as two of his marks. Sadly, their involvement is indicative of the feature’s unconvincing nature, with few able to pull off their parts. Their array of incongruous accents are amongst the film’s many mis-steps, along with incessantly over the top action and a dire lack of emotion.
In his first full-length offering after short Everything in This Country Must, director Gary McKendry employs a hands-off approach. Allowing scenes to extend past their natural conclusion, and ignoring flaws of logic in fellow debutant Matt Sherring’s screenplay, any trace of his helming is noticeably absent. The phoned-in method is mirrored by his stars, with Statham channelling his stereotype, Owen squandering his talents, and De Niro continuing his decade-long crescendo of celluloid disappointment. Their combined efforts ensure that Killer Elite earns neither descriptor in its title, with its lack of ambition to be anything but a mindless action film its only saving grace.
Killer Elite is released in Australia on February 23rd.
Director: Gary McKendry
Cast: Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro, Dominic Purcell
