The Killers Game review
Director: J. J. Perry
Run Time: 1 hour 44 minutes
The Killer’s Game is a fun time, not a game changer, but not every film is supposed to be. Blending gory fights, romance, and flashy stunts, Perry’s action-comedy knows what type of film it is and accomplishes its goals by effectively communicating the life of an assassin who’s done everything possible to stay private and alive.
Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) is a lifetime assassin, often receiving his hits from Zvi (Ben Kingsley) as opposed to using the uBer-esque assassin network that Marianne (Pom Klementieff ) is famous for relying on. During a mission, Joe intimidates a second assassin who ends up interrupting a ballet featuring Maize (Sofia Boutella). Maize loses her phone outside the theater and Joe picks it up, but forgets when he begins to suffer from an intense headache. He begins dating Maize, but also receives confirmation that he has 3 months to live after being diagnosed with a deteriorating condition. He decides to start an insurance policy and pay for a hit on himself, leaving all of his money to Maize.
The role of Joe is more in line with what audiences expect from Bautista, but don’t ignore that he continues to dabble in multiple genres. The Killer’s Game isn’t all shootouts, as there’s some fun stunt work, hand to hand combat, humor and romance. Bautista has gone on record saying he wants more dramatic roles, so even though this film is heavy on gunfire, that’s not all that happens.
Two actresses that audiences know have more range, but didn’t get to explore it much here are Boutella and Klementieff. These actresses have tons of personality and bring great energy to their roles, but audiences might be reminded of their outings in 2017s The Mummy and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One respectively. Audiences need more dialogue and screen time for them in the future. Their scenes with Bautista’s Joe aren’t lifeless but there’s definitely something there that’s untapped.
Kingsley pops up as the pseudo-father figure in the film and is the bright spot. His character brings humor, sarcasm, and wit to the story and audiences can tell he delighted in that opportunity to have fun. Terry Crews as assassin Lovedahl, along with the other assassins in the film, fall a little flat. Their globe-trotting is fun, but audiences merely don’t spend enough time with these other characters and when we do meet them, there’s not as much gravitas there as Tarantino or Stahelski are able to build in their films. The Goyang patriarch, played by Lee Hoon, is probably the most fun, prioritizing well timed and reserved dialogue.
The Killer’s Game relies on more and more gun violence as the narrative moves along and abandons some of the more technical, hand-to-hand combat. While the movie seems to aim for more realism, as opposed to the 2022’s Bullet Train remake, it probably falls between that and John Wick in terms of tone and style, though the tone of the editing in the first third of the film is a nice change of pace.
Action audiences will flock to this in theaters while general audiences will likely wait to catch it on streaming. The crowd during an early screening reacted well to most of the film’s offerings, particularly the gruesome deaths and sarcasm. The film is right in the sweet spot at 104 minutes, so make sure to catch it, especially if you want more Bautista.
3 out of 5
