Killer Elite
Open Road Films | Release Date: September 23, 2011 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
44
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 29 Critic Reviews
Positive:
7
Mixed:
15
Negative:
7
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
VarietyPeter DebrugeSep 9, 2011
A macho, adrenaline-fix suspenser that plays like the bigscreen equivalent of those pulpy spy novels that once clogged grocery-store checkouts. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger EbertSep 21, 2011
This is actually a pretty good thriller, based more on character and plot than on action for its own sake. The need to construct killings that look like accidents adds to the interest. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthySep 11, 2011
This muscular thriller--led by Jason Statham, Clive Owen and Robert De Niro--strives to be a genuinely good film, but unwilling to let go of proven formulas, it falls short. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineRob HumanickSep 23, 2011
Killer Elite is pleasurable enough, but with a steadier hand, it could've been one for the books. Read full review
63
New York PostKyle SmithSep 23, 2011
A snarly Euro-thriller with crust under its fingernails and bad breath. It doesn't care if you like it, which is why I kind of do. Read full review
63
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliSep 22, 2011
Despite having a perfect cast for a title like Killer Elite, Gary McKendry's feature debut comes across as little more than a generic Jason Statham movie with two high-profile guest stars. Read full review
63
Orlando SentinelRoger MooreSep 21, 2011
Best of all, the filmmakers took the time to give these hard men just the right things to say - not catchphrases, just lines that smell of blood and gunpowder every time Statham, Owen or DeNiro utter them. Read full review
60
SalonAndrew O'HehirSep 25, 2011
It's a generically enjoyable action film with a bit of hardboiled based-on-a-true-story-ness about it, and since it's set in the '80s and feels like an '80s movie, it seems a lot like something you must have seen years ago. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzSep 21, 2011
If you're willing to accept Killer Elite as a shoot-'em-up action movie with good actors taking the spots of the usual lunk heads (but spouting the usual nonsense), you'll be pleased with the film. Read full review
58
Christian Science MonitorPeter RainerSep 23, 2011
De Niro, in what amounts to an extended cameo, is radically miscast. That's still no excuse for his nonperformance, which is beyond lackluster. Read full review
55
MovielineStephanie ZacharekSep 22, 2011
The picture, the debut feature of Irish director Gary McKendry, is rote and joyless, an exercise in disposability. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)James AdamsSep 22, 2011
Killer Elite's major problem: motion at the expense of emotion. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaSep 22, 2011
Loaded with careening car chases and rooftop runs, glass-shattering shootouts and exploding fireballs, Killer Elite offers more than enough to keep action junkies happy. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley MorrisSep 22, 2011
Killer Elite is based on a true story and about a half-dozen Jason Statham movies. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsSep 22, 2011
The script is a mess. It's an object lesson in taking a nonfiction book ("The Feather Men," about a cadre of ex-British Special Air Service operatives) and making a hash of it. Read full review
50
Miami HeraldRene RodriguezSep 22, 2011
Killer Elite is too formulaic to overcome a been-there, done-that feel. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter TraversSep 22, 2011
Killer Elite pretends to be fact-based and true to its 1980s period. Just know it's all baloney. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleKimberley JonesSep 29, 2011
There's nothing here for the viewer to do, no kinks to work out, no double-crossings to anticipate, not even a half-hearted flail at figuring out how Danny ticks. Read full review
40
EmpireKim NewmanSep 26, 2011
A few good stunts, some tolerable brooding and one nice, if silly desert chase. But not essential. Read full review
40
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanSep 23, 2011
When Robert De Niro, Clive Owen and Jason Statham unite for an action thriller, we should be able to expect something special. Or at least memorable. Instead, Killer Elite gives us ordinary. Read full review
40
Village VoiceNick PinkertonSep 20, 2011
Killer Elite is distinguished by one no-mercy, eye-gouging, testicle-punching brawl, and one whoppingly indifferent screenplay. Read full review
40
Time OutDavid FearSep 20, 2011
A few awesome firefights does not an action film make, and even De Niro's Ronin-esque interlude can't shake the feeling that the thrill, like the '80s, is gone. Read full review
38
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanSep 22, 2011
I've got another portmanteau word for the movie: unbelievaballistic. Read full review
33
The A.V. ClubNathan RabinSep 21, 2011
This clumsy action movie feels too generic to be real. The film attempts to add an element of sophisticated sociopolitical commentary to the typical Jason Statham head-busting shoot-'em-up, but only ends up draining it of visceral thrills. Read full review
30
Boxoffice MagazineSara Maria VizcarrondoSep 22, 2011
We all have to make jokes around the water cooler, and if enough people bother to see Killer Elite, its silly nonsense could make for a great comedy routine by Greg from IT. Read full review
30
Chicago ReaderJ.R. JonesSep 22, 2011
Pure punishment, this rote action flick from Australia. Read full review
25
San Francisco ChronicleAmy BiancolliSep 22, 2011
Director-co-writer Gary McKendry seems to know a thing or two about hard-fisted fight scenes, but he muddies up the visuals with obligatory spasms of shaky-cam. Read full review
25
Entertainment WeeklyLisa SchwarzbaumSep 21, 2011
Killing looks ridiculously easy in this dispensable exploitation picture, directed for maximum impact of head-cracking pain by ad-trained Irish director Gary McKendry in his first feature. Read full review
20
The New York TimesManohla DargisSep 22, 2011
Whatever the case, Mr. Owen and Mr. Statham (who provides a nice duet with a chair) make a prettily matched pair amid the pileup of sub-Bourne action set pieces, sad laughs and clichés. Read full review
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