The whole premise of KILLER ELITE, according to the film's intro, rests on true facts, but you realize soon enough that all the blood, guts, shooting and bone breaking have little to do with reality.
So, credibility is not the film's strong suit. That said if you see it strictly from the angle of an action flick, you might enjoy it - I did.
Statham is his usual solid action man, his girlfriend is delightful to look at, de Niro has an interesting small part and Clive Owen makes a great rival. Acting and cinematography are competent, and action sequences are especially good, if somewhat repetitive by movie's end.
The down side is that it is 127 minutes long, where 100 minutes would have more than sufficed.
I just could not believe that a former SAS would kill fellow SAS members just to save a friend from captivity by an Oman sheik hellbent on revenge for his three sons killed by SAS men. And that's not all... he must get confessions out of his targets, all trained not to give in to torture. Ouch.
The fairy tale ending has to rate far-fetched but by then I had had my share of fun. 7/10.
So, credibility is not the film's strong suit. That said if you see it strictly from the angle of an action flick, you might enjoy it - I did.
Statham is his usual solid action man, his girlfriend is delightful to look at, de Niro has an interesting small part and Clive Owen makes a great rival. Acting and cinematography are competent, and action sequences are especially good, if somewhat repetitive by movie's end.
The down side is that it is 127 minutes long, where 100 minutes would have more than sufficed.
I just could not believe that a former SAS would kill fellow SAS members just to save a friend from captivity by an Oman sheik hellbent on revenge for his three sons killed by SAS men. And that's not all... he must get confessions out of his targets, all trained not to give in to torture. Ouch.
The fairy tale ending has to rate far-fetched but by then I had had my share of fun. 7/10.