'The Killer's Game' Review: Dave Bautista can't save subpar action adventure
Store this in the "would have been better in the 90s" file.
I’m a big Dave Bautista fan, both as an action star and someone who goes for more dramatic material like Blade Runner 2049 and the Dune movies. He can be more, and also just grab a gun and kick ass when necessary. He’s also the guy who has said he doesn’t want to do movies like The Rock and doesn’t really want to do a movie with the fellow wrestler-turned-actor.
Dave, or David if you don’t mind: Dwayne Johnson could have done The Killer’s Game better than you. The global star is better than Bautista when it comes to combining action and comedy on any scale (Guardians of the Galaxy movies don’t count). He dipped his toes in the Rock’s cooking area, and delivered a result that Lorenzo Lamas would have been proud of 30-35 years ago.
The setup wasn’t all bad. Bautista plays Joe Flood, a seasoned hitman who gets a terminal illness diagnosis and puts a contract on himself to avoid a slow and painful death. But right before the clock starts on his head, the doctor calls and says they mixed up his scans with someone else’s, meaning Mr. Flood will live. Well, he may not get beat by the big C, but bullets and grenades are coming his way.
The problem isn’t the setup. The dialogue, screenplay, and most of the cast are flat out dull or fall short of providing a good time. Look, if it’s past 10 PM one night and you need a slow descent into sleep mode, push play on this one. Don’t fork over decent cash for it this week. From the action choreography (stop speeding the camera up) to the recycled special effects, everything is carbon copy B-movie sludge.
Stunt veterans like Daniel Bernhardt and Scott Adkins are so over the top, I was wishing they did more kicking than speaking. Pom Klementieff was more menacing and intriguing in the latest Mission: Impossible than the cartoon caricature in The Killer’s Game. Ben Kingsley is amusing, but it’s like he’s in an entirely different movie. Or, give me more scenes with him and Bautista. The same goes for Terry Crews, who can make any sized role engaging.
The big guy is capable of more than standard action fare, and he looks like it here. Mostly uninterested and going through the motions, Bautista only strikes a chord when he ventures into more comedic line readings. The Killer’s Game has a personality disorder, though, since it can’t decide between being a hardcore action movie or a slapstick action comedy.
The result is something that can be skipped, or picked for a fitting long-term snooze button.
One more thing. The best part of this movie is the actor who plays the priest, a very minor character who gets the biggest laugh towards the end of the movie.
“I’m not sure I can pardon all of these sins.”
“What, do we need to call the Vatican or something?”
Outside of that short moment, The Killer’s Game can stay dead.
Verdict: Don’t pay $20 on Prime for this one.
