Killer Elite Blu-ray Review

More or less, Killer Elite is a spy thriller of sorts, loosely based on a true story. The film follows Danny, a contract killer (Jason Statham, of course) and his mentor Hunter (Robert De Niro) as they track down Spike (Clive Owen), the leader of a secret military society known as the Feathermen.

Despite an interesting B-movie premise, Killer Elite is a film so shockingly blank and emotionless, it's a chore to sit through. How a film with Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro could wind up so dry and uninteresting is simply puzzling. The film offers almost no real character development, and strings along on a confusing, overly complicated narrative that boasts plenty of stock (and stale) action beats.

Lacking any kind of energy or panache, the film lumbers around, connecting action cues to tired dialogue and exposition, rendering a movie that plays like a collection of video game cut scenes strung together. And Jason Statham once again proves that, if he's in an action film of any kind – even one with some meat on its bones -- don't expect any dramatic range from him.

I imagine the script for Killer Elite was probably quite good – good enough to attract some A-list talent, at least. But somewhere between the page and the screen, something went horribly wrong for the picture. Killer Elite might appeal to fans of the spy/assassin genre, but it simply doesn't bring anything fresh or exciting to the table. It's about as assembly-line as they come, which is a real shame given the incredible time and talent that went into this project.

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Killer Elite arrives on home video as a combo pack, complete with a Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy of the film. The Blu-ray is encoded in 1080p/AVC, mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The transfer for Killer Elite perfectly replicates the theatrical experience, with sharp, crisp gritty images, and a slightly desaturated visual tone. The encode yields some noise and heavy grain on occasion, but virtually nothing else distracts here – no artifacting, posterization or banding were noted. Depth and details pop off the screen, and shadows/blacks are well replicated without much bleed or distortion.

The 5.1 lossless audio packs a punch during action beats, filling all five channels with discrete gun shots, explosions and the like. Dialogue is mostly crackle-free, save for a few minor moments here and there. And bass is hearty and aggressive, without feeling too overbearing or lumbering. While mixing isn't quite perfect all the time, this track delivers a rousing atmosphere that perfectly captures the film's desired tone.

Extras on the Blu-ray are a bit underwhelming, to say the least. Don't expect to hear a commentary track, or even traipse through some EPK featurettes. The disc boasts just one film-specific goodie – a collection of deleted scenes running less than 10 minutes (presented in HD). Universal also stocks the disc with their usual BD supplements, including BD-Live and pocketBlu connectivity.


It's hard to figure out what exactly went wrong with Killer Elite. All the pieces are there, but the film simply doesn't connect on virtually any level. The cast is good (save for Statham who's just playing Statham), and a few of the action scenes work. But without an engaging story, or colorful characters, Killer Elite is about as bland as they come. Rent this one before you buy.

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