Bullet Points: King of Killers
The world of contract killers, assassins and hitmen have thrilled movie going audiences for years. Over the past decade Keanu Reeves’ John Wick and Scott Adkins’ Mike Fallon have become some of my favorite movie hitmen, but they may be getting some company in the form of Alain Moussi’s Marcus Goran from 2023’s King of Killers…
- Taking Care of Business: Marcus Goran (Alain Moussi, Kickboxer: Vengeance) is a man leading two lives and we see both of those lives on display in the opening minutes of King of Killers. There’s Marcus the killer, who eliminates his target while the poor dude is sitting on the shitter. Then there’s Marcus the family man, who we see spending some quality time with his wife Karla and their daughter Kimberly. As far as his wife and daughter know, Marcus is in sales and have no idea he earns his money by killing people.
- Worlds Collide: Marcus and Karla have plans to celebrate their wedding anniversary at a show that Marcus scored tickets to… but Marcus’ boss/mentor Robert Xane (Stephen Dorff, Space Truckers) needs Marcus to take out another target before he takes his wife out for their special night. We see footage of Marcus preparing for his next kill juxtaposed with footage of Karla getting ready for her big night out… then something strange happens. Karla receives a text from Marcus that said “change of plans”… the next time we see both of them they are at the Coal Train club. Karla spots Marcus and does a double take due to the facial hair he is sporting… Marcus is so focused on what he has to do, he doesn’t even hear Karla call out to him… Marcus then goes down to the bowels of the building where he will take out his next target with a confused Karla making her way across the room to follow Marcus… Marcus finds his target behind closed doors. It is not an easy job, but Marcus gets it done. Then when Marcus opens the door to make his exit he is shocked to see Karla standing there, with bullet holes in her… obviously Marcus did not send that text to Karla, so who did?
- From Bad to Worse: Marcus now finds himself a single dad raising Kimberly with the help from Karla’s mom who moved in after Karla’s passing… Marcus also finds himself receiving invitations to take out the almost mythical “King of Killers” a man named Drakos, but he left that life behind after what happened to his wife and instead has focused his free time in trying to figure out who shot his wife. Then the unthinkable happens, Kimberly is rushed to the hospital after a cardiac event… her heart is deteriorating and it is only a matter of time before it fails. Heart transplants aren’t cheap so suddenly that $10 million dollar job to take out Drakos sounds really good.
- Destination Tokyo: So Marcus makes his way to Tokyo… when he arrives he is greeted by the man who recruited him for this job, Roman Korza (Gianni Capaldi, Salvage Marines) who will escort Marcus up to the penthouse, where Marcus will meet Roman’s employer, the man who has put the contract out on Drakos. When Marcus gets to the penthouse, he finds he is not the only assassin who is has been invited to Tokyo. Korza’s boss (played by Frank Grillo) goes through the dossiers of all six assassins he has invited to play his game… you see this isn’t your usual contract, it’s a competition to see who can kill Drakos first… oh and one more thing, he is Drakos!
- Let the Games Begin: Once the game gets underway it is pretty much non-stop action with guns, knives, swords, personality clashes and plenty of smoke and mirrors from Drakos. Plus, the assassins not only have to worry about Drakos and his tricks, but one another… they all went from thinking this was a $10 million dollar job to having to split the prize so it only stands to reason they might want to eliminate some of their fellow assassins so that $10 million dollar pie isn’t cut up into so many pieces. In addition to plenty of violence, King of Killers also delivers a few twists before it is all said and done.
I became an instant fan of Alain Moussi watching him in the Kickboxer reboot and its sequel. Moose made a great first impression with me, but at the same time I knew he was well protected in those films… the story was a proven winner and not only that, he got to do it alongside the star of the original film, Jean-Claude Van Damme. King of Killers proved to me that Moose is the real deal. And I’m not just talking the action aspect… that is a given, because long before he was a leading man Alain Moussi made a name for himself as a stunt performer. I am talking as a leading man. Moose has to essentially play two different characters, he has to show a variety of emotions and he does it all and he does it like a guy who has had way more acting experience than he actually has.
Frank Grillo’s involvement certainly elevates King of Killers… Grillo is one of those actors who excels on either side of the fence, good guy or bad guy Grillo is going to knock it out of the park and King of Killers was no exception.
If you are a fan of the John Wick or Accident Man films, you are more than likely going to be a fan of King of Killers. And if you are a fan of Bonus Bullet Points, keep reading…
- Graphic Content: King of Killers is based on the Darkstorm Comics graphic novel created by Kevin Grevioux. And speaking of Grevioux…
- Triple Duty: Kevin Grevioux was the writer and director of the film, he also played one of the assassins, Dyson Chord. There’s no way I can’t mention the fact that Grevioux has one of the deepest voices I have ever heard.
- Familiar Faces: Some of the other assassins included Andre LeCroix played by UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre (Captain America: The Winter Soldier) and Marie Avgeropoulos (Jiu Jitsu) who played the sole female assassin, Asha Khanna.
- More to Come?: There was some news floating around last year about a King of Killers prequel television series and given the way the movie ended, I could easily at least one sequel down the road.
