Killer Elite

Critic Reviews

I had a reasonably good time, on the whole...

Jason Statham cements status as top-level action star.

De Niro, in what amounts to an extended cameo, is radically miscast. That's still no excuse for his nonperformance, which is beyond lackluster.

-Peter RainerFull Review

Statham is just good enough to make one wish he'd challenge himself.

-Tom LongFull Review

Jason Statham is enjoyable enough to watch that he can occasionally make one forget just how silly and dull a movie like Killer Elite really is.

-Ian BuckwalterFull Review

The movie's not stupid. And that makes it more than bearable and often a little fun.

-Stephen WhittyFull Review

To be sure, first-time director Gary McKendry keeps things moving at an adrenalized pace, even through thickets of flashbacks. But this is precisely Killer Elite's major problem: motion at the expense of emotion.

-James AdamsFull Review

When Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham unite for an action thriller, we should be able to expect something special. Or at least memorable. Instead, "Killer Elite" gives us ordinary.

-Elizabeth WeitzmanFull Review

It doesn't care if you like it, which is why I kind of do.

-Kyle SmithFull Review

Simultaneously silly and overwrought...

-Michael O'SullivanFull Review

Clumsily directed by Gary McKendry and poorly written by Matt Sherring, rookies both, the convoluted movie collapses under the weight of its own cliches.

-Peter HowellFull Review

Pure punishment.

-J. R. JonesFull Review

[A] pileup of sub-Bourne action set pieces, sad laughs and cliches.

-Manohla DargisFull Review

With a B+ cast and a script full of pseudo-profound moral complexities, its aspirations are lofty and its achievements are trifling.

-Colin CovertFull Review

If you want some meaning with your mayhem, or even a good line of dialogue or two, look elsewhere.

-Steven ReaFull Review

Gary McKendry hadn't directed a feature before this one, and you feel it. Any scene that fails to involve the revving of motors or the breaking of bones is dead.

-Wesley MorrisFull Review

The fun of Killer Elite, such as it is, is all in the hardass action. But there's nothing elite about this disposable time-killer.

-Peter TraversFull Review

Despite having a perfect cast for a title like Killer Elite, Gary McKendry's feature debut comes across as little more than a generic Jason Statham movie with two high-profile guest stars.

-James BerardinelliFull Review

The script is a mess.

-Michael PhillipsFull Review

This is actually a pretty good thriller, based more on character and plot than on action for its own sake.

-Roger EbertFull Review

The glossy topcoat provided by the paycheck participation of De Niro and Owen can't cover up the essential emptiness of the project.

-Lisa SchwarzbaumFull Review

And quite the cliche-ridden desultory mess it is, too...

-Glenn KennyFull Review

If you're willing to accept "Killer Elite" as a shoot-'em-up action movie with good actors taking the spots of the usual lunk heads (but spouting the usual nonsense), you'll be pleased with the film.

-Bill GoodykoontzFull Review

A decent yarn, decently told, a tough guy film built around veteran screen tough guys.

-Roger MooreFull Review

When Statham and Owen finally meet in the showdown you've been waiting for, it's rendered in such dizzying, adrenalized style that it's hard to tell who's doing what to whom.

-Christy LemireFull Review

Killer Elite is distinguished by one no-mercy, eye-gouging, testicle-punching brawl, and one whoppingly indifferent screenplay.

-Nick PinkertonFull Review

Strives to be a genuinely good film, but unwilling to let go of proven formulas, it falls short.

-Todd McCarthyFull Review

A macho, adrenaline-fix suspenser that plays like the bigscreen equivalent of those pulpy spy novels that once clogged grocery-store checkouts.

-Peter DebrugeFull Review

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