A veteran assassin is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness and authorizes a kill on himself. After ordering the kill, an army of former colleagues pounce, and a new piece of information comes to light. Insanity ensues.
Based on a relatively unknown book by Jay Bonansinga from 1997, “The Killer’s Game” doesn’t offer much in the way of cinematic thrills. Browsing online before writing this review, it seems this movie has had quite the time getting to the screen, bouncing around between numerous studios since the ‘90s. In fact, I found reading up on the troubled production far more interesting than anything the film had to offer. Perhaps if it had been filmed and released in the late ‘90s, I’d be writing a very different review.
However, I’m here to review what I’ve witnessed on screen. “The Killer’s Game” begins with hitman Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) working a job at an opera house during a dance performance. The hit does not go smoothly (or seem well thought out), resulting in panic from the audience and performers. This leads to a meet-cute between Joe and lead dancer Maize (Sofia Boutella).
Of course, the two fall madly in love, and their developing relationship intercut with scenes of Joe performing jobs throughout Europe. To be perfectly fair to director J.J. Perry, this sequence has some clever editing. And to be fair to the viewer, some awful effects work, too. Blood splatters as victims are slaughtered are obviously created with computer-generated effects — these cheap-looking blood splatters litter the entire movie.
Unfortunately, Joe keeps having headaches — one at the opera house almost causes him to get caught by his target’s guard. He goes to the doctor for a series of tests and is told that he has an incurable neurodegenerative disease that will kill him within three months. Not wanting to wait around to become a vegetable, Joe decides to have himself killed (and also breaks up with Maize). After his friend/handler (Ben Kingsley) refuses the job, Joe turns to rival handler Marianna (Pom Klementieff), who is more than happy to release a contract for Joe’s demise.
There’s only one problem… the doctor’s office messed up the bloodwork, and Joe isn’t sick. Cue the onslaught of assassins jumping at the opportunity to knock off Joe.
Director J.J. Perry has spent most of his career in the stunt department, only recently shifting gears to try his skills behind the camera. “The Killer’s Game” is his second feature film. You can tell that Perry hasn’t entirely found his groove behind the camera. The stunt work might be decent in this movie, but everything else is lackluster — the camerawork and photography are flat, the soundtrack generic, the writing poor, and the effects disappointing — pulling attention away from anything effective.
Watching this movie reminded me a lot of watching 2022’s “Bullet Train,” which is also based on a book. Both are over-the-top action films that try too hard. In the case of this movie, the assassins all have quirks, some more annoying than others. The humor throughout the movie feels shoehorned in, and character decisions are poorly thought out. The acting is also pretty atrocious for everyone involved.
As much as I despised this movie, the audience around me ate it up. There were plenty of reactions to the events unfolding on the screen, and most of the audience seemed to be excitedly discussing the film as they left. Like “Bullet Train,” which I also abhorred, I could be in the minority opinion with this one. This movie did nothing for me, and I don’t recommend it, but there is an audience for this type of film. Hopefully, my description will be enough to tell if this movie is for you.
In Theaters Friday, September 13th
