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THE KILLER'S GAME
Director: J.J. Perry Cast: Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Ben Kingsley, Pom Klementieff, Terry Crews, Daniel Bernhardt, Scott Adkins, Drew McIntyre, Shaina West, Lucy Cork, Lee Hoon, Marko Zaror, George Somner MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:44 Release Date: 9/13/24 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 13, 2024 The Killer's Game keeps coming close to doing something with its darkly funny premise, its cast of eccentric characters, and, most importantly for this kind of material, its action. There's an entertaining movie to be made from the elements on display here, but director J.J. Perry's attempt isn't it. What's surprising is that the movie takes its time to arrive at the actual setup, giving us a chance to learn about its characters and think that this story, adapted by screenwriters James Coyne and Rand Ravich from Jay Bonansinga's novel, is heading in one or two other directions beforehand. Initially, it's about of Joe Flood (Dave Bautista), a professional assassin, just doing his business as a killer-for-hire. His latest target is watching a dance performance at a theater in Budapest, where Joe dispatches bodyguard after bodyguard without much effort. After completing his objective, the audience stampedes out of the building when the violence becomes obvious, and Joe rescues the show's main dancer, a woman named Maize (Sofia Boutella), from being trampled. She thanks him, and before she can say anything else, Joe has disappeared, only to discover that he accidentally held on to Maize's cellphone in his rush to escape. The result is a twisted sort of romantic comedy, as Joe and Maize, after he returns her phone and takes up her offer for dinner, start a relationship. There's a cheeky montage of their dates and more intimate moments juxtaposed with Joe's work. A man dying from Joe holding a garotte around his neck, for example, kicks over a bottle of champagne, which is suddenly being poured into a glass so that Joe and Maize can toast. Perry shows flashes of a demented kind of humor here, and once the action does take over, one can't help but wish he leaned into that impulse a bit more. Admittedly, some of this is funny, particularly the story's most vitally important punch line. It takes a lot more setup, but the gist of it is that Joe is diagnosed with a degenerative brain condition, leaving him with a prognosis of only a few months and the need to ensure that Maize is financially set after his death—without her knowing what his occupation has been this entire time. It's treated sincerely, reminding us that Bautista has some acting chops and range beneath his hulking physicality. Joe arranges a life insurance policy with his handler Zvi (Ben Kingsley) and tries to distance himself from Maize before the disease takes hold. His actual plan is to make sure he doesn't live that long, putting on an assassination contract on himself by way of Marianna (Pom Klementieff), who's happy to take it, since Joe killed her father years ago. It's all fairly convincing as a twist on a romantic comedy and a look at a professional killer trying to go out his own way, and then, the floor drops. Joe was misdiagnosed, and because Marianna has that personal grudge against him, she has no intention of calling off the assassins she has contracted to kill him. Everything after that revelation, though, loses the earlier narrative's focus or, when it is completely concentrated on action, becomes too hasty and repetitive to make much of an impact. The plot's momentum is often halted to introduce a string of killers from around the world, who are willing to kill Joe because of his reputation as the best in the field, the money, or both. The idea's a clever one, as we meet individual assassins and teams of them, each with their own little quirks. Out of South Korea, there's Goyang (Lee Hoon), as well as his gang, who likes his cigarettes for style and as a reward for completed job, and there's a bit of particularly macabre humor involving that habit when Goyang's final job is finished for him. We also meet Botas (Marko Zaror), a Spanish fighter with a flamenco flair, and a pair of brothers who use their motorcycles as weapons and instruments of death. When the latter two finally confront Joe, the quick fight is over before the promise of their gimmick, trying to strike Joe with their bikes, can be fulfilled. That's probably the major issue here, because there are more introductions—from Terry Crews' Lovedahl to two different pairs of assassins from Great Britain, a duo of English femmes fatales (played by Shaina West and Lucy Cork) and a couple of Scottish brothers (played by Scott Adkins and Drew McIntyre)—and less impressive payoffs to most of them. All of this effort essentially comes down to brawls that feel as if they end before they really start, and it doesn't help that Perry puts a sudden stop to a few of them with explosive jokes. The movie is more imaginative in its oddball characters than in its action, and since most of the side players don't last long, that doesn't amount to much. The Killer's Game ultimately miscalculates how much impact those characters could have and how little the speedy, familiar action actually does possess. Copyright © 2024 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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(for
strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual material, brief
drug use and nudity)
