Directed By J.J Perry

Starring – Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Ben Kingsley

The Plot – Follows veteran assassin Joe Flood (Bautista), who is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a kill on himself to avoid the pain that is destined to follow. After ordering the kill, he finds out that he was misdiagnosed and must then fend off the army of former colleagues trying to kill him.

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, adult language, some sexual material, brief drug use and nudity.

The Killer’s Game (2024) Final Trailer – Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews (youtube.com)

POSITIVES

Some films feel like Taco Bell, in that they are comprised of unhealthy ingredients, yet eliciting a unique taste that undoubtedly satisfies in a pinch, and that’s ‘The Killer’s Game’ to a tee. This is a film that could easily fall by the wayside of derivative returns, either in borrowing its plot from ‘John Wick 3’, or borrowing its execution and structure from ‘Bullet Train’, but Perry refuses to phone in the occasion, instead inspiring an abundance of personality and stylistic impulses that undoubtedly prove that some vital effort was paid to the integrity of its product, resulting in an exhilarating thrill ride that certainly entertained, even while telling a familiar story. Through side-scrolling transitions, triple-tiered framing reminiscent of the 70’s, or on-screen text that climatically introduces us to each character, one thing is for certain; Perry never misses an opportunity to dazzle with every frame, giving us plenty to chew on while quite literally blowing us away with brutally unforgiving action that channels the unpredictability and ferocity of this dangerous underground world. On that front, while certainly nothing original, the bureaucracy of these contract killers being networked to a job was undoubtedly my single favorite part of the script, and one that I definitely wish the film could’ve further delved deeper into, if given a longer run time to properly flesh out. As I will convey shortly, this is the single biggest problem with the movie, but at least in this instance there’s a vivid understanding of the rules and extensive geography that this world spans, creating not only a wide catalogue of cultural stereotypes to articulate that the movie refuses to take itself too seriously, while illustrating the level of power that Joe is up against in the single biggest fight of his life. On top of this, the performances are almost entirely up to the task of Perry’s rampantly riveting lead, with some buzzworthy supporting turns nearly stealing the show from the titanic Bautista, as he interacts with every single one of them, in some form or another. The best of these is either Kingsley as a grizzled veteran and father figure of sorts to Bautista’s Joe, with his stone cold deliveries of these silly throwaway lines handed down from pop culture, or Terry Crews’ Lovedahl, who brings along his expected limitless charisma, but this time to a maniacal madman whose business-driven ethics feel like nothing that Crews has portrayed since possible 2002’s ‘Friday after Next’. But it’s ultimately another vehicle-driven showcase for Bautista, who still humbles with so much humanity to a role that honestly feels a bit redundant to him, by this point. Visually, Bautista appraises an authenticity to the rough-and-tumble voracity of the trade, with physicality that that serves as the perfect compliment to his imposing stature, but for my money it was those unfortunately rare times of dramatic heft for the movie where Dave summons some heart behind the horrors of his unrelenting actions that was most defining, echoing depth for an actor who I wish would be offered more roles outside of the action genre, even if he’s undoubtedly perfect for such repetition. Lastly, the breakneck pacing inside of its 99 minute run time does compromise certain nuances within the believability of proper timely development, but in the case of the overwhelming odds of the mission against Joe, gives audiences very few moments to properly breathe between voracious onslaughts that frequently have him running the gauntlet against adversaries. This certainly makes ‘The Killer’s Game’ an easy watch, as the minutes burn off effortlessly until the climatic final battle, but beyond even that maintain a palpable urgency throughout the duration of the engagement that very few other films capably attain, where the actions of the movie seamlessly replicate the consistencies of the storytelling, for an experience that is constantly moving forward.

NEGATIVES

The other side of the aforementioned breakneck pacing results in overtly rushed sequencing that never has a chance to catch its breath and evaluate the stakes of each forthcoming adversary, leaving little room for the nuanced moments of character and plot development between action sequences, which feels abruptly halted once the advertised plot devices come to fruition, at around the film’s half hour mark. This film is definitely a victim of its spoiler-heavy marketing, but even if it kept the secrets of its plot contained, it results in these strangely timed and suspension-heavy developments that feel like they crash the party at the strangest moments, like Joe’s initial diagnosis coming months after his appointment, so to coincide with the growing love story of he and Boutella’s character. Once his misdiagnosis happens, the storytelling and development of the plot and characters is done for the remainder of the film, and we’re left with an abundance of action sequences, which, while effective in garnering the occasional jolt out of the audience for R-heavy violence, stack constantly and consistently to take away the originality and flavor of their impact. This is a lot of the reason why the action sequences did very little for me, but beyond that, they’re unfortunately saddled with the worst kind of C.G blood that I can remember in quite sometime, and comic heavy consistencies in tone, which make them feel unappealingly cartoonish at the moments that should effortlessly breed suspense. I’m totally fine with an action movie having a personality, as Tarantino and countless others have made a career out of it, but here Perry indulges a bit too forcefully in the stereotypes of his geographically-relevant contract killers, and between feeling a bit offensive (Like a Scottish duo who require subtitles to understand dialogue that is already easy to decipher) and being given no time to properly build their forms of capabilities and devastation, they never feel like the kind of monumental threats needed to craft uncertainty and unpredictability to Joe’s survival, instead feeling so ridiculous and over-the-top gravitationally at times that it became difficult to take any of the devastation seriously. Finally, one unfortunate aspect that feels personal to me is the disappointing usage of Sofia Boutella, but to no blame of her own commitment that she brings to the part. Sofia is fine enough as love interest Maize, and shares a surprisingly believable chemistry with Bautista, despite their physical frames feeling like opposites attract, but it’s what the script asks of her that is most concerning, where arguably the biggest and most proven action star in the entire movie is asked to portray the damsel in distress, which gives her very little substance creatively to latch onto. As expected with this kind of character framing, she’s essentially a device for Joe’s wants and needs, and while it’s nice to see Sofia getting more lead roles that are very much deserved, a lot of me wishes that she would’ve instead been cast as one of Joe’s many dangerous adversaries, because at least then she could show off the velocity and ferocity that she has brought to movie-stealing turns in such films as ‘Hotel Artemis’ and ‘Atomic Blonde’.

OVERALL
‘The Killer’s Game’ is a bone-crunching and earth-shaking good time that refuses to take itself too seriously, for better or worse. Despite a rushed execution that undercuts characterization and natural development, and action sequences leaning a bit too heavily on comedic levity, the engagement goes down smoothly as an easy, breezy burn of 99 minutes, made all the more enthralling with Perry’s stylistic-heavy direction setting a sizzling stage for many bold and intoxicating personalities within the year’s most dangerous ensemble.

My Grade: 6/10 or C