KILLER ELITE

The Feather Men Get Heavy

Directed by Gary McKendry
Starring Jason Statham, Clive Owen, Robert De Niro and Firass Dirani

Killer Elite opens with the disclaimer that the story you are about to see is real. It’s 1980 and the war in the Middle-East threatens oil reserves and the world economic crisis worsens. Based on the 1991 book The Feather Men, which claims to be a true story, Killer Elite is a tale about revenge for actions made by British soldiers in a time of war.

Jason Statham plays Danny Bryce, an ex-military man in a team of mercenaries doing hits for cash, employed through a suave, and very fake, travel agent (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje). After too many close calls he throws in the towel, retreating back to South Australia to his childhood property. But it doesn’t take long before his past catches up with him, as his mentor and friend Hunter (played by Robert De Niro) gets himself imprisoned by Sheikh Amr, a deposed king from the small region of Oman. On threat of his friend’s death, Danny must finish the $6 million job Hunter accepted then tried to escape from; kill three former British SAS soldiers who killed the Sheikh’s three eldest sons during the Dhofar Rebellion.

Danny must record a confession from each man before killing them and deliver it to the Sheikh before he dies from a terminal illness. If revenge for the deaths of the princes is complete, it will allow the Sheikh’s only remaining son Bakhait (played by Australian Firass Dirani) to regain control of the region his father once ruled. As Danny and his team kill the first target a secret group of former SAS soldiers who call themselves The Feather Men dispatch their lead man Spike Logan (Clive Owen) to investigate and protect any endangered men of their own ilk.

From the poster it looks like it will be an  American flick, but in fact De Niro is the only actor featured born in the US. About 24 actors featured in the flick are Australian, and the two other men in Danny’s posse are played by Australians Dominic Purcell and Aden Young, who both produce some like-able yet nasty characters. This makes for a refreshing change, as the film darts from Paris to London, to the Yarra Valley, but never to the usual USA.

The scenes with an older De Niro talking on the job with a younger Statham feels like moments in Tony Scott’s Spy Game and De Niro shooting an automatic rifle will always be reminiscent of Heat. All round this film has hall marks of classic action movies, with solid and thrilling shooting scenes and classic car work.

Though authored by an ex-British SAS soldier Ranulph Fiennes, the years have not been kind on The Feather Men, with it mostly now known to be fictional. Nonetheless it’s a gripping tale and is sure to spark the curiosity of some in the audience who will go home and read the book for themselves.

_TOM VARIAN