The Killer's Game

This bomb seems like it was a test to see if Dave Bautista can carry a film as the lead. In my opinion, he does best when part of an ensemble cast.

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The premise is good: Assassin finds out he has a terminal illness and takes out a contract on his own life. In the meantime, he falls in love and then is told the diagnosis was incorrect, he’s not, in fact, dying. Fight scenes ensue.

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The woman he falls in love with, Algerian actress, Sofia Boutella, of Rebel Moon fame, is gorgeous, but man, they couldn’t have given her a more unflattering haircut if they tried. Anyway, Sofia and Dave have zero chemistry, which is a bummer.

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The fight scenes that happen because of this arrangement are nothing special, but they’re noteworthy for the spatter and way they deal with the fact that Bautista is enormous. He doesn’t have the agility that most action stars have, so the fight scenes involve physics, explosives, and trip wire. Lots of trip wire.

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As far as the movie-making goes, the transitions between scenes are excellent, and I enjoyed seeing so much of France. The countryside is gorgeous.

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A lot of people were in talks to do this movie who dropped out. In July of 2002, Wesley Snipes was set to star in it. Later in 2002, Michael Keaton was in talks to star in it. In 2018, Jason Statham was hired to lead. In 2019, Statham dropped out and Dave Bautista stepped in.

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Ice Cube also joined the cast in 2019, but several months after production began he dropped out and Terry Crews stepped in. The script was rewritten at least twice and the director’s chair was a revolving door.

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If this film would have had a better cast and director, it could have been a hit. As it was, this movie cost 30 million to make and grossed 5.9 million. That's a good indication of how bad this movie is.

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Not recommended.

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