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Killerman

Killerman: Such a Waste of Potential ‎

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Yasmeen Mamdouh
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Killerman: Such a Waste of Potential ‎

Featured image courtesy of © Blue Fox Entertainment – via imdb.com.

Even though it sounds like a teacher talking about a lazy-but-smart student, ‘such a waste of potential’ is the most accurate phrase to describe Killerman.

The film follows jeweller, and money launderer, Moe (Liam Hemsworth), who ends up losing his memory, after a rogue deal that was suggested by his partner, Skunk (Emory Cohen), goes south. While not even being able to remember his name, Moe has to clean up the mess, avoid being killed by crime boss and Skunk’s uncle (Zlatko Buric), and  run from crooked cops out to get the cocaine and money that he and his partner possess -all at the same time. Survival becomes even harder when secrets about Moe’s life, which he doesn’t even remember, come to light.

The story sounds good, right? That is exactly the problem with Killerman; an interesting story with a boring execution. The amnesia aspect could have been used in a more unorthodox way, but the filmmakers chose the safer -and more boring- option, which was led to the film’s demise. This kind of mistake is really annoying to audiences (and obviously film critics too), as they are left thinking about what could have been, and about how such a good story is wasted.

Instead the film just goes through the motions of what needs to be done with a deal gone bad, Moe losing his memory, trying to fix everything, and so on, without using the great potential for creativity. 

The film’s final act is where all the out-of-the-box ideas come along, even if they do not plausibly work with the logic or pace of the film. The ideas do grab the audiences’ attention, until a final sentence leaves them wondering. The script isn’t really outstanding, with most of the lines being predictable, short, simple, and standard -even the ones that Moe has while struggling to remember.

Even though the script didn’t really help him at all, Liam Hemsworth held his own in the lead and had some standout moments. Emory Cohen gave a strong performance, making his character distinct, but struggled to maintain the character’s plausibility in the final act when the plot took an implausible turn. Zlatko Buric’s performance is similar to others we have seen before from him, which makes him fit for the role, but not necessarily memorable.

Killerman wastes great ideas, and will have you mad at the filmmakers for what they have done, maybe more than being mad at yourself for watching the film.

Like This? Try

Pusher (1996), Street Thief (2006), and Cash Only (2015).

360 Tip

Between auditions, Liam Hemsworth used to lay floors.

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