The Killer’s Game (2024) Lionsgate/Action-Comedy RT: 104 minutes Rated R (strong bloody violence throughout, language, some sexual material, brief drug use, nudity) Director: J.J. Perry Screenplay: Rand Ravich and James Coyne Music: Roque Banos Cinematography: Flavio Martinez Labiano Release date: September 13, 2024 (US) Cast: Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Scott Adkins, Marko Zaror, Pom Klementieff, Ben Kingsley, Drew McIntyre, George Somner.
Rating: ** ½
How is it that the action-comedy The Killer’s Game managed a theatrical release despite having direct-to-Netflix written all over it? It’s entertaining enough, but it hardly merits a costly trip to the multiplex. It’s too bad because Dave Bautista appears to be shaping up as the next big action star to make the jump from the wrestling ring. We’re talking the next Dwayne Johnson.
Bautista plays Joe Flood, a professional hitman who only kills those who deserve it, like the human trafficker he takes out in Budapest during a ballet performance. It turns out to be a turning point in his life because that’s where he meets Maize (Boutella, Atomic Blonde), a dancer he saves from being trampled by the fleeing crowd. They fall in love which makes him decide to retire from his profession and start leading the good life. Believe me when I say it won’t be as simple as that.
Joe has been experiencing debilitating headaches lately. He sees a doctor who takes his time getting back to him with test results. When he does, it’s not good news. He tells Joe that he has an incurable neurodegenerative disease and only three months to live. Not wanting Maize to watch him suffer, he takes out a contract on himself. When his handler Svi (Kingsley, Gandhi) refuses to handle it, he goes to rival handler Marianna (Guardians of the Galaxy co-star Klementieff) who’s only too glad to accept. She’s been wanting to do Joe in since he killed her father several years before. She puts some of her best people on it to make sure it gets done right.
Now for the twist! Seconds before the contract takes effect, Joe gets another call from his doctor telling him there’s been a mix-up at the lab and he’s not dying after all. He tries to cancel the hit, but it’s too late. Things are already in motion. All Joe can do is kill the killers before they kill him. In response, Marianna brings in everybody she has to finish the job, one that pays $4M.
From this point, The Killer’s Game becomes an ultra-violent free-for-all with hired assassins and mercenaries coming out of the woodwork to take a crack at killing Joe. We get a dancing Spaniard, a pair of drunken Scotsmen (replete with subtitles), a motorcycle-riding duo, two lesbian strippers from the UK and what can only be described as a murderous K-pop group. We also get Terry Crews (America’s Got Talent) as an assassin who initially turns down the gig until the bounty goes up. He gets saddled with Marianne’s idiotic nephew Money (Somner) who wants to be part of the game. He’s one of those foreigners who learned English from listening to rap.
Directed by former stuntman J.J. Perry (The Day Shift), The Killer’s Game is a weird blend of John Wick, Short Time and Mortal Kombat. The violence is plentiful, OTTT and extremely bloody. People are shot, stabbed, slashed, beaten, blown up and torn apart. The body count is high. All deaths come with a liberal amount of gore. Unfortunately, it’s all CGI. I guess audiences wouldn’t find The Killer’s Game so funny if the gore looked real.
Bautista definitely has screen presence. He was great as Drax the Destroyer in the Guardians of the Galaxy films and Rabban in the Dune movies. He showed a flair for comedy in My Spy. He even did okay in the M. Night Shyamalan stinker Knock at the Cabin. We won’t talk about Stuber mainly because nobody even remembers it. As for his performance in The Killer’s Game, it’s fine. It’s neither great nor awful. He looks like he’s enjoying himself in the midst of all the idiocy. I like Boutella and not just because she’s gorgeous. She has this fiery quality that serves her well. Sadly, it’s set on medium-low for this outing. Klementieff hams it up nicely. At one point, she channels Gary Oldman’s character in Leon the Professional (1994). You’ll know it when you see it. Kingsley lends some class as Joe’s wise sage of a handler. Crews is funny, but he’s too underused. He should have been more integral to the action.
In its defense, The Killer’s Game doesn’t suck. It’s loud, chaotic, profane, barely coherent and totally nonsensical. It’s more amusing than funny. It’s never boring. At the same time, it pales in comparison to better hitman comedies like The Hitman’s Bodyguard. It’s enjoyable but unmemorable. Chances are it’ll be forgotten by the time it makes its way to streaming platforms where it belongs. That should be in about three weeks.
