A B-movie blend of John Wick, Kill Bill and an 80's action flick, THE KILLER'S GAME is an enjoyable b-side thriller with a lot of laughs.
Dave Bautista reminds me of Arnold in his early action flick days here (think "Eraser" and "Commando") showing little human emotion but plenty of inhuman ability to kick your ass nine ways to Sunday.
Opening with the first of many 4k drone action shots that jump off the screen, Bautista's international hit man Joe Flood enters a black tie event in Budapest. Tuxes and luxury drip off the screen as a pretty bad-ass modern dance troupe led by Maize Arnaud (Sofia Boutella from "Kingsman" and "Star Trek Beyond") performs on stage. Flood assassinates a shadowy figure in one of the boxes with funny asides and lethal action that will be familiar to any Stallone/Schwarzenegger fan.
In the post hit melee, he saves Maize from the crush of the crowd and begins a quiet romance with her. You get the feeling its his first genuine personal contact in decades.
As his handler Zvi (a very welcome Ben Kingsley) offers further assignments, Flood confesses that he's suffering severe ear ringing and headaches.
A trip to the doctor serves up a lethal diagnosis, three months to live and most of that in severe decline.
Flood makes the same decisions that most of us would in that scenario, with one additional choice, to pay for a hit on himself so that he can give all his money to his new flame, Maize. He pays Antoinette (Pom Klementieff from "Mission Impossible" & "Guardians of the Galaxy") to hire the right killers. She's ALL IN.
What follows is a funny mixture of Tarantino's big bold yellow titles on screen as each new hitman is introduced and John Wick style action as they all descend of Joe.
Two minutes before this hit is scheduled to start, the Doctor calls to tell Joe there's been a mistake at the lab, he's actually NOT dying. But he's about to, as a cavalcade of killers descends on him.
Some of these assassins are hilarious. Feuding, brutish Scottish brothers Angus and Rory come with their own subtitles as they drink and stumble their way to Joe. Ginni & Tonya, the most lethal and seductive female duo since Bambi and Thumper took on OO7 in "Diamonds are Forever" take on the hit. Goyang's Gang, a Korean squad of stylish killers take the bait.
Creighton Lovedahl (Terry Crews) knows Flood well and won't take the $2m bait, but when it's upped to $4 million, he joins the chase. Crews really took me out of the film in his opening scenes. At first, he comes off like that guy in the Old Spice commercials, but the part of Lovedahl grows on him as the film goes on.
The action scenes are first rate, bloody violent and in many cases, damn funny.
Boutella has one of her best roles here, and since she's basically playing off a brick in Bautista, it's even more impressive.
The final scenes are kind of dumb, feeling more like a family film that the blood thirsty thriller its been for 100 minutes.
I laughed more than a few times and admired the action scenes even more frequently, even if they are marred by a little too much CGI blood. They need more on set practical effects teams and less digital effects folks, but it's still fun.
But mindless.
Come for the laughs, stay for the non-stop hits, using every weapon imaginable.
THE KILLER'S GAME is a enjoyable knock off, but a second rate one at heart. If everyone had been as inspired as cinematographer Flavio Martinez Labiano (Jungle Cruise), this might really been something. His camera goes anywhere and everywhere at one hell of a pace.
But they weren't. I'll give it a C.
Kudos for Bautista for giving it his all. His comic delivery is as sharp as those giant handheld scythes that are a favorite of the Goyang Gang. Flood's reaction when one gets stuck in his shoulder is priceless.
Goodbye Joe Flood. We hardly knew ye.....
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