The Killer's Game
This Dave Bautista-fronted action flick is a whole lotta fun.
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I know it isn’t for all tastes, but I had a really good time watching the new Dave Bautista-fronted action/comedy “The Killer’s Game” (now in theaters) and found it to be fun, funny, gory and goofy.
Bautista stars as a hitman named Joe Flood. He works for his handler Zvi (Ben Kingsley) and is one of the best in the biz bumping off bad guys across Europe. Joe decides he wants to get out of the game when he meets and falls for dancer Maize (Sofia Boutella). However, sickness may retire him before love when Joe’s diagnosed with a terminal disease.
Maize can’t cash in Joe’s life insurance if he commits suicide, so he takes out a contract on himself with rival hitter Marianna (Bautista’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” franchise mate Pom Klementieff). Turns out the doctors got Joe’s diagnosis wrong and he has plenty of time left to live, but Marianna’s got an axe to grind and the hatchet woman is unwilling to cancel the contract. Joe must work his way through a cabal of killers (played by the likes of Terry Crews and DTV action all-stars Scott Adkins, Daniel Bernhardt and Marko Zaror) if he hopes to survive and settle down with Maize for their happily ever after.
“The Killer’s Game” is the second feature from stuntman-turned-director J.J. Perry and I found it to be a marked improvement on his debut “Day Shift” (my review here). The movie has been in development hell for over 20 years with the likes of Wesley Snipes, Michael Keaton and Jason Statham slated to star. It’s based on the novel by Jay Bonansinga and was adapted by James Coyne, Simon Kinberg (he’s had a hand in every “X-Men” property over the past decade) and Rand Ravich (he wrote and directed the Johnny Depp/Charlize Theron sci-fi/thriller “The Astronaut’s Wife” 25 years ago).
“The Killer’s Game” is admittedly pretty dumb, but it’s also a whole helluva lot of fun. Bautista brings a sweetness to the proceedings which serves in stark contrast to his (formerly) hulking physique. Boutella plays somewhat against type – she’s more damsel in distress than brooding badass – but she sells it and is entirely appealing. (Kudos to whomever styled her hair – it and she look great.)
There’s an abundance of CG blood in the picture – which is something I often hate – but it works here. The carnage being kinda cartoony sorta softens it, which probably helps sell the romance and makes the movie feel a tad less schizophrenic.
“The Killer’s Game” is the sort of flick in which Sir Ben Kingsley says, “Don’t hate the player, hate the game,” before busting a cap in some dame’s dome. You likely already know if this is your bag or not, but I suspect if you dig action movies of the 1980s and 1990s, Quentin Tarantino’s stuff, Guy Ritchie’s stuff or David Leitch’s “Bullet Train” then you’ll vibe with this too. I sure did.