Killer Elite

O filme aparece como mais longo do que realmente é, graças às extensões do enredo na segunda metade. Mas é esta última que é melhor do que a desinteressante e aborrecida primeira metade, graças a um maior envolvimento do carácter de Owen. Sem Owen, que é um oponente digno de Statham, não flui inicialmente. A presença de De Niro é bastante icónica. A tentativa de humanizar o personagem Statham com uma loira com estranhas botas de borracha retém desnecessariamente. Cenas de ação puro estandarte. A atmosfera de old-school é OK, McKendry é obviamente um fã dos filmes de Frankenheimer. (16/10/2011)

When something looks and functions like a B-movie, then it is a B-movie. The concept could have been handled more seriously and could have resulted in a significant sociopolitical drama in the style of Paul Greengrass' works, but Gary McKendry chose the path of pure entertainment. Killer Elite is one of the few cases where I not only don't mind the genre definition of a B-action film, but I also actually quite enjoy it. The solid cast also plays a part in that, with Jason Statham capable of delivering a performance and Clive Owen being at the top of his game. The title represents essentially the same thing to me as, say, Commando does to someone else (which would be unbearably dull for me). I enjoyed the battle between mercenaries and members of the elite British SAS, and for that, I will reward it with a 75% overall impression. (07/10/2015)

Compared to the trailers, it's quite a decent bit of entertainment, which is surprisingly brought down by not being as dumb as it originally looked. However, the grafting of a tangled plot, with political intrigue in the background, onto a through-and-through B-movie concept, brings down the impressions quite dramatically, although in each position separately the film is quite decent. Statham's physical abilities have once again found proper use for once, and De Niro is finally in a role that suits him after a hell of a long time. In the end, we are left with a decent silly film that doesn't completely offend but also leaves us with a slightly awkward impression from the two-hour runtime. (15/11/2011)

Appearances are deceitful, Killer Elite is indeed pleasantly old-school (raw image, 80s), but it is not nearly as dynamic as I would have expected from Statham, nor is it as kinetic in terms of action as I would have wished for (the main fight between Owen and Statham is boring, only the editing is good, it lacks physicality, the punches don't hurt), there is a lack of blood, a lack of toughness and naturalism. The polished image and filters are not enough. De Niro is okay, it's a shame he has little screen time. The lady with the horses is quite irritating, I don't understand how she was taken so seriously. Similarly, some of visual effects (bullet in the hair like in Drive, etc.), borrowed from elsewhere, are just unfortunate. Hardly average. (23/12/2011)

The film brings together a pretty solid lineup of action stars, with Robert De Niro standing out the most. Jason Statham, as usual, sticks to his same old moves, and the story isn’t exactly groundbreaking. But on the plus side, there’s plenty of action, and it easily earns three stars for that alone. It’s a decent watch, but I honestly wouldn’t have minded if it was trimmed down to 80 minutes of pure action, instead of dragging on for 116 minutes with some unnecessary filler. (20/08/2012)