By: Kimberly Grant
Have you been having John Wick withdrawal? Have you seen Deadpool & Wolverine and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice five times each and looking for a film with the same amount of action and gore to see this weekend? Then, you’re somewhat in luck.
The Killer’s Game will be in theaters September 13. This film coming out on Friday the 13th is either a good thing or a bad omen.
The Game Plan
Either way, The Killer’s Game stars Dave Bautista as Joe Flood, a hitman residing in Budapest, Hungary. Why Budapest you ask? It’s centrally located in Europe so that Joe can get to any where he needs to be in order to assassinate a bad guy. According to his colleagues, Joe is one of the best hitmen in the business. Think: a meatier John Wick who moves slower and doesn’t have a puppy.
In James Coyne, Simon Kinberg, and Rand Ravich’s script (based on the novel by Jay Bonansinga), Joe is told by his doctor that he has a terminal disease that is causing his constant headaches and blurred vision. This prognosis has given him three months to live. With a new love in Maize (Sofia Boutella) and retirement in his sights, Joe makes a bad decision. He doesn’t want the love of his life to see him turn into a vegetable, so he takes out a contract on himself so that his peers can kill him, instead.
If you’re starting to think that this is a ridiculous premise and not like John Wick at all, you’re on the right path. Where John Wick would have had assassins trying to kill him, he wouldn’t have taken out on a contract on himself. Directed by J. J. Perry (whose known for doing stunts on films like John Wick: Chapter 2 and The Fate of the Furious, as well as directing Day Shift with Jamie Foxx and Snoop Dogg), The Killer’s Game is trying to be like the world of John Wick without the finesse. The film does have some situational comedy. But not enough to make it funny.
Some Flash Judgment
As a huge fan of the CW’s The Flash, one of my favorite tv villains is one Leonard Snart (played by Wentworth Miller). One of Leonard’s most famous lines are: “Make the plan, execute the plan, expect the plan to go off the rails, throw away the plan.” Now, this quote was said because Leonard was good at throwing away the plan and still accomplishing his goals. Perry, not so much.
I can tell that Perry and the writers made a plan to give audiences a John Wick type world set in the picturesque parts of Europe that was more light-hearted and starred an action-movie-type actor. They planned on having Bautista show his range as an action star who wasn’t covered in dark blue makeup. They even enlisted Bautista’s Guardians of the Galaxy co-star Pom Klementieff to play one of the leaders of the assassin organization, Marianna. And they recruited some top talent, like Terry Crews as Lovedahl and Ben Kingsley as Joe’s mentor and boss, Zvi.
The filmmakers executed their plan and then some things went off the rails. Bautista and Boutella don’t have good chemistry. They’re supposed to be in love but I wasn’t feeling it as an audience member. Bautista moves slower than the action stunts would suggest. I could clearly tell he had a stunt double for more of his stunts. The marketing for this movie has a John Wick tie-in because both are distributed by Lionsgate, but Keanu Reeves and the rest of the cast have some big shoes to fill.
Unfortunately, the filmmakers decided to stick with the plan, instead of throwing it away in favor of something that felt more real. This film starts quirky enough with Joe taking a hit out on himself, then goes all the way ridiculous with a comic book cast of characters that are only memorable as long as they are on screen. The “curve ball” of the doctor calling Joe to say he mistakenly diagnosed him with a terminal disease is just plain unprofessional and a sign of a weak storyline. Speaking of storyline, the film ends rather abruptly without much of a big finish. It lacks a proper climax and leaves the audience wanting more.
Keanu Would Never
While I get why the filmmakers wanted to make this film. It’s different and there are great action sequences. But the talent is not utilized in a good way. Crews’ talent is very much on screen and seems to carry the movie. Kingsley, who is such a well-respected actor, seems bored with the film. In essence, this movie is trying to be something it’s not. It wants to be like John Wick, but misses its mark. It wants to be funny, but it only manages to be ridiculous. Bautista wants to carry a film to show that he’s a big enough box office draw. But this isn’t it.
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