Since Lee Marvin and Charles Bronson are no longer "in shape", for many years, action film lovers have to live with guys like Vin Diesel and Jason Statham (Stallone & Schwarzenegger are something different). Personally, I don't like neither Diesel nor Statham, the first one is too awkward in everything he does, the second is not convincing. If I have to choose between them, I choose Statham, he's more sympathetic. Not really tough as he wants to look, in all his movies he is the same, he's not at all what you call a versatile actor (much more tough is Charlize Theron in "Atomic Blonde", plus, she's a real good Actress). De Niro is no longer what he was once, anyhow he still has his unique charm of old-fashioned fox. I loved the scene when he recovers his watch ("I got to get my watch back...") Yvonne Strahovski is cute and nothing more. The other actors are almost all functional, they play their roles well, except for Rodney Afif, who is not at all convincing as the sheikh. I've seen the movie twice, with great care, as usual, I know what I'm saying. It has some good action, tracking, beatings, explosions, not bad. From some time, De Niro likes a lot to shoot with the machine gun, his character, Hunter, is like Sam's twin brother (or clone) from "Ronin"(much better film - both films with some action in Paris). And Monsieur De Niro speaks French correctly. The best of the whole movie is Clive Owen as Spike.

It's common knowledge that most movies featuring Statham are not much more then a bad-ass ex-something (Cop, Military, Marine, etc..) beating up dudes for revenge/money/saving family. But with a big name like DeNiro co-starring and the promising story, maybe this one is different? Well not much..The movie starts with Danny (Statham) and his old friend and mentor Hunter (DeNiro) in action as hired hit men for a mysterious Agent. The job goes reasonably well but Danny almost kills a kid which is the final straw for him to get out of the hit men business and settle down for a easy life. A year later Danny learns that Hunter is held hostage in Oman by the old Sheikh Amr, who summons Danny to talk to him. Once there Danny is given the task by the Sheikh to kill three former SAS agents who killed three of the Sheikh's sons. Danny reluctantly agrees and reunites with his old mates Davies and Meier to help him in exchange for a large sum of money. However, Danny and his friends soon find out that killing former SAS agents also means making new enemies and opening more cans of worms that they can handle.. If you watch this movie as a simple action flick with cool car chases, dirty fighting, shoot-outs and one-liners you will be satisfied. All these elements are there and they look good, although I didn't like the shaky cam during the fight scenes. However the movie also tries to tell some mysterious story about a secret organization and double agents but it fails badly here. The motivations of the characters are unclear, it's hard to follow what each person's role is in this and the ending is very unsatisfying. There is also a romance in the story for Danny's character which is told in annoying flashbacks that adds absolutely nothing to the plot. My final complain is that this movies is supposed to take place in 1980 but it doesn't look like 1980 at all. Sure they tried here and there by using older cars but there are to many mistakes that become to obvious. The movie 'Argo' did a much better job at how this time period is supposed to look. So if you watch Killer Elite with the mindset that it is a movie about bad-ass Statham beating up dudes for revenge\money\whatever, you will be entertained. If you want an interesting story with interesting character you will be disappointed.

According to the book and the marketing of this film it's all based on a true story, I honestly don't really care because that was not a selling point for me, what attracted me to the film is the cast. I know Jason Statham doesn't have the best track record when it comes to the quality of the movies he stars in but when add Dominic Purcell, Clive Owen, and the great Robert De Niro, to me it's worth the shot.Killer Elite, did not live up to the expectation such a cast would inspire. They establish a quick connection between the men in the beginning then dive right into the story. It's kinda set up like a heist movie, for which you desperately want them to succeed, even though they're not stealing anything but are killing people. The film does have action sequences and a nice opening scene but then it falls flat and gets boring for a while. The story is weak and repetitive and the cast does nothing to elevate it. Statham barely shines in the action scenes, Owen is so bland in his portrayal of a trained killer, Dominic Purcell sporting an English accent is weird but if only he looked confident doing it he wouldn't have made a joke of himself, and De Niro is hardly in the movie. The only redeeming quality Killer Elite has is the historical & geopolitical aspect behind the story.Killer Elite was a disappointment for me, it was barely entertaining and ran too long (120min). @wornoutspines

I quite liked this, it has a different vibe and wasn't your typical Hollywood action thriller filled with huge stunts and shoot-outs just for the sake of (although there is still a ton of action.) Inspired by a true story this has an intriguing plot and great locations with Statham playing a former black-ops agent who is forced back into action when his mentor (DeNiro) is taken captive by an Arab sheik. In order to free him he must kill three members of Britain's elite SAS, responsible for the death of his sons.I actually enjoyed DeNiro here which I haven't been able to say about him in ages and Clive Owen does a great job too. Statham is always a good time and Killer Elite contains one of my all-time favourite fight scenes of his, which sees him tied to a chair, still kicking ass and then throwing himself out a window, it's awesome. Although I will say that for the most part he tones things down, with more realistic, less choreographed and showy fights, even losing a couple. 8/18/14