The Killer's Game (2024)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Clash Flood

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Not exactly the most original movie idea, JJ Perry's action/comedy The Killer's Game nonetheless runs with it, making things light and speedy, and with Dave Bautista keeping up his end as a tough, funny, romantic lead.

Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) is the best hitman in the game, but lately he has begun to experience headaches and double vision. On his latest job, he rescues a beautiful ballet dancer, Maize (Sofia Boutella), and she invites him to dinner. They hit it off and quickly fall in love. He visits a doctor and learns that he has a degenerative illness that will cause his decline and take his life in just three months.

Rather than confess what he does for a living to Maize and put her through the agony of his death, he contacts his loyal handler Zvi and asks him to put out a hit on himself. Zvi refuses, so Joe goes to an old archenemy, Marianna (Pom Klementieff), who is only too happy to comply. Just before the contract is set to begin, Joe receives a call from his doctor; there was a mistake. He's going to live! But it's too late to call off the contract, and so now Joe must face an entire army of professional killers.

Directed by former stuntman JJ Perry (Day Shift), The Killer's Game gets things going right away with Joe performing a hit during a ballet, the murders of course intercut with the dancing, but it works. The dancing is exciting and the cutting is crisp. (Another clever sequence intercuts Joe and Maize's budding romance with more of Joe's killings; he adorns her with a necklace and strangles a victim in the same beat.)

As the movie goes on, Perry finds ways to keep the killings surprising and not repetitive, but it's Bautista who sells most of this. He has a fun, low-key, husky delivery that makes most of his one-liners work, and an impromptu confession to a Catholic priest is flat-out hilarious.

But what's really special about the movie is that fully embraces its unabashed romance. Joe and Maize are truly in love, and, while perhaps unlikely, it comes off as genuine, and we root for them. Movies about unending violence can be numbing, and certainly The Killer's Game doesn't break any new ground, but, in treating this whole business as a "game," it winds up being a decent measure of fun.

Lionsgate's Blu-ray release features a crisp, snappy transfer and sound, making for a fun watch at home. Audio tracks include Dolby Atmos, an English descriptive track, and a Spanish track. There are optional English and Spanish subtitles. Bonuses include a series of short featurettes, "Meet Joe Flood," "The Conductor," "World of Assassins," and "Killed It!", as well as a theatrical trailer. The set also includes a bonus DVD and digital copy. Recommended.