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. – Synopsis via Lionsgate Films
THE KILLER’S GAME is directed by J.J. Perry and this is his second film after DAY SHIFT in 2022. It is written by Rand Ravich, James Coyne, and Jay Bonansinga. Since Perry is a stunt coordinator, his movies have a lot of mixed action from choreographed fights to gunplay. He cast plenty of physical actors to make up the various assassins to be sure that most of the shots don’t always need a stunt double. He did a similar thing in DAYSHIFT with Scott Adkins.
It is an entertaining movie that reminds me of a “less serious” JOHN WICK or something like GUNPOWDER MILKSHAKE. Big action, hyper-stylizing, and a good amount of blood. However, Bautista’s Joe is very wooden and dry in a way that just feels lacking. He needed a bigger personality and be less somber but I do understand that this is not Drax. He has the talent and this is what Perry asked of him so this is the result.
Cast
Dave Bautista as Joe Flood
Sofia Boutella as Maize Barkley
Terry Crews as Creighton Lovedahl
Scott Adkins as Angus Mackenzie
Marko Zaror as Botas
Pom Klementieff as Marianna Antoinette
Ben Kingsley as Agent Zvi Reeves, Joe’s mentor
Alex Kingston as Sharon Rantick
Drew Galloway as Rory Mackenzie
Shaina West as Tonya Rantick
Lucy Cork as Ginny Weisz
Daniel Bernhardt as Max
Lee Hoon as Goyang
Dylan Moran as Father O’Brien
Raffaello Degruttola as Dr. Kagen
VIDEO QUALITY 5/5
The video is a 2160p HEVC presentation with Dolby Vision. The images are incredibly sharp and show off the level of detail from the format. The word to be thrown around is clean. Clean lines and clean video that looks like it was digitally captured in 4k – 8k. The Dolby Vision adds brilliance to the coloring and depth to the shadows. Blacks are inky and there are no real issues I could see. Also, the skin tones are natural.
AUDIO QUALITY 5/5
The audio is a Dolby Atmos mix that defaults to a Dolby True HD mix depending on your setup. This is a lively track even when there is no action happening because of the ambient sound. When there is action, music along with the effects for the scene moves around the sound field naturally. The overhead speakers make the sound more immersive in general but also make stray shots or thrown weapons have better directionality. The dialogue is natural and prioritized as it should be.
SUPPLEMENTS & PACKAGING 3/5
-Meet Joe Flood: This has interviews with Dave Bautista and J.J. Perry about the character.
-The Conductor: This is about the director, J.J. Perry.
-World of Assassins: This is about the colorful hit-people in the movie.
-Killed It!: This is about some of the action in the movie.
-Theatrical Trailer
Disc Details
2-Disc Set w/ 1 4k UHD and 1 Blu-ray
Digital Copy
Slipcover included with the initial release
Running Time
104 mins
Edition Ratings
Rated R
Region Coding
4k UHD: Region Free
Blu-ray: Region A
4k UHD
Video Resolution
2160p HEVC H.265
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
HDR
Dolby Vision
HDR10
Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio descriptive
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
Blu-ray
Video Resolution
1080p AVC MPEG-4
Aspect ratio: 2.00:1
Audio Mixes
English Dolby Atmos
English Dolby TrueHD 7.1
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Audio descriptive
Subtitles
English SDH
Spanish
THE FINAL WORD 4/5
As I mentioned earlier, THE KILLER’S GAME is an entertaining watch during the faster-paced moments. I just wanted a little more personality from Bautista as this guy who wanted to change his life for love and it never happens.
Lionsgate has released another well-authored 4k release with top marks in both the audio and video. It has crisp 4k and a tight Atmos mix. The extras are on the lighter side but I do like that they aren’t solely on the Blu-ray Disc. If you have seen this and enjoyed the movie, pick up a copy, or if you haven’t yet, check it out for yourself.
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