“The Killer’s Game” is a deftly-constructed action film leavened with comedy. The movie is perfectly paced to avoid significant slowdowns not pertinent to the major violence that comes with hit teams taking on another assassin marked for elimination. The main romance defies the usual tropes which makes this a refreshing break from other predictable plot-lines.

The picture begins in Budapest. Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) has been tasked to take out someone involved in human trafficking. (Joe only kills evil people.) His mark is sitting in a box in what looks like an opulent opera house, although a modern dance recital is happening on stage. Joe goes from bodyguard to bodyguard as he kills them on his way to his target.

After he executes his foe, his escape results in gunshots being heard by the audience. Panic ensues. As the dancers rush off stage, the lead dancer Maize (Sofia Boutella) falls and is almost trampled. Joe rescues her. While all of this has been going on, Joe has been experiencing severe headaches that recur from time to time.

Joe visits his handler, Zvi Rabinowitz (Ben Kingsley), to receive his payment. Joe has another headache while there. He then sees a doctor, who draws blood to do more tests to see what is going on with Joe.

Joe returns Maize’s phone, which he acquired in the mad stampede at the opera house. She gives him her phone number. At first reluctant to continue seeing her, he eventually relents. A nice series of montage scenes, brilliantly edited, alternate between their dates and his hits on various criminal elements.

The doctor tells Joe that he has Creutzfeldt-Jakob’s disease. There is no cure. All that can be offered is palliative care while Joe continues to deteriorate.

Joe goes to Zvi and asks him to put a hit out on him. Zvi refuses. Joe goes to a competitor, Marianna (Pom Klementieff). He pays her a large sum to perform the hit. She agrees and contacts some assassins to do her bidding.
Meanwhile, Joe goes to Maize and breaks up with her without telling her the reason. She tells him that he will regret his decision for the rest of his life, which will not be long.

But then Joe receives a phone call from the doctor. You guessed it—his blood sample was mixed up with someone else. He doesn’t have Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease after all!

Now Joe wants to preserve his life. But Marianna refuses to end the hit. Joe calls Maize, wires her money, and tells her to go on the run.

What happens as Joe succeeds in disabling the first assassins who come to him is that the money Marianna offers escalates, drawing in more and more candidates to kill him. She even engages mercenaries to do the job, which breaks the unwritten rules (who knew there were any?) of the world of hit people.

Zvi is only able to give him some explosives and Joe retreats to an unoccupied castle to face his pursuers.

I truly appreciated the fast pace of the action scenes. The whole film has a Guy Ritchie feel to it. The assassins are truly unique. Their sheer variety in weapons and tactics provide welcome variety. I also enjoyed the comic banter between two Scottish brothers.

The fact that Dave Bautista is not a classic romantic lead also was refreshing.

Bautista is excellent as someone involved in dating and a romantic relationship. The interactions between Joe and Maize in these scenes is truly a highlight of the movie.

I also appreciated how the tropes of romance were turned on their heads at times. Maize’s reactions to Joe’s breakup was believable but not over-the-top. She was going to get on with her life. Her reaction to finding out Joe’s profession also generated unexpected responses.

The picture is based on a 1997 novel of the same name by Jay Bonansinga, most famous for some of “The Walking Dead” novels. He is one of three co-screenwriters. I reveled at how they were able to keep the action interspersed with comic relief.

The action set-pieces are well-staged. Each has some unique aspect in terms of the method of execution. Of course it helped that most of the assassins did not just employ guns. In this way, it reminded me of the elaborate ways that the villains in the 1960’s “Batman” television series tried to kill the Dynamic Duo.

I already remarked on the prowess of the editing in the montage sequence. But the same applies to the totality of the editing of the film. I was never bored, nor was the audience which viewed the film with me. They were actively engaged.

The settings, whether Joe’s apartment, the castle or other scenes in Budapest, also elevated the film. The location manager and production designer did great work here.

Another nice touch includes a priest hearing Joe’s confession of everyone he has killed over the years. The banter between the hitman Lovedahl (Terry Crews in a standout performance) and his wannabe gangster/driver Money (George Somner) also was priceless.

Besides his role in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” series, I thought that Dave Bautista gave a subtle performance in “Hotel Artemis.” He more than holds his own here.

The real acting highlight is Kingsley as Zvi. His laid-back acceptance of what he does and his genuine concern for Joe were well-portrayed. It was great to see him in another film again.

This movie is too violent for younger audiences, hence the “R” rating. But this is a movie that you can come into at any moment and thoroughly enjoy what you are seeing. It is no Oscar winner, but it does a great job combining comedy with creativity and action.

Four out of five stars

In the new action-comedy THE KILLER’S GAME, when top hitman Joe Flood (Dave Bautista) is diagnosed with a terminal illness, he decides to take matters into his own hands – by taking a hit out on himself. But when the very hitmen he hired also target his ex-girlfriend (Sofia Boutella), he must fend off an army of assassin colleagues and win back the love of his life before it’s too late.

Cast: Dave Bautista, Sofia Boutella, Terry Crews, Pom Klementieff, Ben Kingsley
Directed by: J.J. Perry
Written by: James Coyne, Simon Kinberg, Rand Ravich
Based on the novel by Jay R. Bonansinga
Website: thekillersgame.movie