It's another one of those with great actors, that's it

LOOK, my people, there are three action heroes I admire in Killer Elite and that's Jason Statham, Robert de Niro and Clive Owen. But that doesn't mean I admire what I saw.

Shhh... between you and me (come closer, I'm whispering - no, I won't bite your ear), this is balderdash, dressed with great actors, and yes, you're going to watch it because you and I are suckers for stupidity.

The script is neither here nor there, but it's rather straightforward; if you're searching for magic words, forget it. This is gory action - yep, there's quite a lot of blood gushing out of bodies - but, hey, what's new?

You've seen worse in Pulp Fiction, any flick with a Quentin Tarantino signature. However, this is not a Tarantino movie. Oh, I'm still wondering if Statham, De Niro and Owen are in it just for the loot.

Christmas is around the corner, so I wouldn't blame them for travelling around shooting locations, jumping up and down on set and making monkeys out of themselves with lousy action, saying uninspiring lines, just to get paid (and laid).

It's a convoluted plot, but I'll try and keep it simple, stupid. Danny Bruce (Statham), Hunter (Robert de Niro), Davies (Dominic Purcell) and Meier (Aden Young) are paid assassins. After an upsetting stunt during one of their "assignments" with this crew, Danny retreats to Australia.

But he's called back to killing action to rescue his partner, Hunter, who is captured as punishment for a job gone horribly wrong. A rich client instructs Danny to extinguish several people, and he has to produce evidence to prove that each target is dead. The killing must be accidental, so as not to raise any suspicion.

Obviously he can't handle the task on his own. So he hires Davies and Meir to bolster him. Unbeknown to Danny is that a highly skilled member of the Feathermen, a secret society of former operatives (don't mind the terminology), named Spike Logan (Owen), is watching their movements like a hawk.

Other than freeing Hunter, Danny has a bigger mission: to protect his woman (of course, an action has to have some honey), Anne (Yvonne Strahovski). That's not all. He himself is not immune to being cornered and tortured, but you knew that right? I'm not giving too much away, I hope?

Now, go see Killer Elite. And don't say I didn't warn you about killer shortcomings. Remember, I'm on your side. Always, no matter how disappointed you feel after the credits roll up. Oh, the cinematography deserves a seven out of 10.