by Jeffery Rahming, Contributing Writer
Dave Bautista may be the best in the small club of wrestler-turned-actors. With films like Blade Runner 2049 and Knives Out under his belt, he clearly chooses more interesting projects than his competitors, but as a leading man, he hasn’t had the same level of exposure as The Rock or John Cena. In The Killer’s Game, Bautista continues to prove himself a leading man as good as his counterparts but is let down by a rather by-the-numbers story.
We follow assassin Joe Flood (Bautista), who’s executing his routine killings when he runs into a beautiful dancer named Maize (Sofia Boutella). Falling in love pretty much from first sight, their relationship goes off without a hitch, with one small caveat: Maize doesn’t know that he’s a hitman. When he finds out he has a terminal illness, Flood calls a hit out on himself, only to find out his diagnosis was a mistake. Now he must save himself and his girlfriend from the multiple highly trained killers that are after them.
Surprisingly, the strongest thing here is the performances. Bautista has long stated his desire to be regarded seriously as an actor and not just as a muscle, and this movie goes some way toward furthering that reputation. He’s funny, charming, a badass, and shockingly good at emotional scenes. Boutella is also quite good. She’s the spark that really lights the film up. There’s no doubt in my mind that these aren’t two people in love. I’d believe you if you told me they were a couple in real life. The love story is one of the best aspects of this film and does an amazing job of capturing the feeling of a whirlwind romance.
Obviously a movie called The Killer’s Game is sold more on action than a cute couple, and funnily enough, it feels like an afterthought. This isn’t to say it’s not good. Director J.J. Perry is a former stuntman, so the team knew what they were doing. The action is fun and flashy, but it feels like they were leaning on the strength of their expertise a little bit. A lot of effort went into making the Bautista and Boutella relationship drama compelling, and that same effort isn’t put into the world building of the assassins. “The Game,” as the assassins call it, isn’t fleshed out enough. The society of secret assassins with their own rules is something we’ve seen ad nauseam at this point, and this doesn’t add anything fresh to that concept. It just ends up feeling like a John Wick ripoff. In action, Joe Flood is essentially a ‘90s Schwarzenegger character. He can shrug off everything from explosions to bullet wounds, and he feels functionally unbeatable. Most of his opponents go down easily, while Bautista gives half-hearted one liners. Even with the sword fights, clever traps, and gallons of CGI blood, there’s nothing here that moviegoers haven’t seen a thousand times before, and it doesn’t do quite enough to stand out from the pack. The formulas it draws from have been worn out by now.
Also, while not a comedy per se, like most action flicks, we do have some running gags and one-liners. They fall entirely flat, with a few exceptions. The most egregious example is George Somner as Money, an annoying, wannabe British gangster whose only purpose is to be obnoxious and suck up runtime. The balance between the romance and the action/comedy aspects just feels off. We spend so much time setting up the relationship that the assassins game fades into the background. Once it comes back in and the two leads are separated, I wished they were together more. Their chemistry is electric and when the movie becomes a Dave-Bautista-is-Superman vehicle, it’s a lot less interesting. I wouldn’t cut out any of the romance scenes, but some of the action scenes just feel unnecessary.
It’s difficult to really get a read on this movie. It’s an action/comedy/romance that does the romance superbly well and feels a bit generic on the action/comedy side of things. People who like the latter might be disappointed by the amount of focus on the romance, and people who like the drama and romance will probably be bothered by the gory violence. It doesn’t quite find a target audience. Ultimately, The Killer’s Game is fun enough, but nothing you need to rush out to see.
Rating: It Was Just Okay
The Killer’s Game is currently playing in theaters
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