Stanko's Stance

“Two NYC money launderers make a quick drug deal. Things go wrong, as dirty cops are involved. One of the friends gets amnesia during their escape with the drugs and money.“

Director: Malik Bader
Writer: Malik Bader
Staring: Liam Hemsworth, Emory Cohen, Zlatko Buric
Streaming: HBO Max
Release Date: August 8, 2019

When it takes you three or five times to get through a movie, it can not be a good one. I wanted Killerman (2019) to be an easy crime watch but I was instead slogged through a depraved story surrounding characters who try to scream “FUCK!” as loud as they can over people.

Moe (Liam Hemsworth) and Skunk (Emory Cohen) are friends. Criminal friends who are trying to make bank for their own buck. With an untimely double-cross and an expected case of amnesia, things go from promising to horrifying., There are crooked cops intertwined in the chaos, both of whom are truly deplorable people. The atrocities that they commit upon some of the characters are terrifying. The veracity of their evil is over the top for a movie of this poor ilk.

The best actor of the bunch in Killerman was Zlatko Buric, who plays the mob boss drug swindling lead uncle by the name of Perico. He entire persona is a mood, one riddled plan-making and altering paranoia. It may honestly just be his hair; it is a character of its own.

Killerman‘s saving grace its is final twist which I will admit to not having seen coming. For anyone who does not want to be spoiled for a two year old movie, please skip the italicized paragraphs coming forward.

When we are introduced to Moe it is under the guise that he is a criminal looking to make his own profit. Following his memory loss, we are learning about him while he is trying to remember himself. We discover he has pregnant girlfriend but that doesn’t last long at all when she is killed shortly after introduction. Moe then goes on a killing vindictive rampage and avenges his girlfriend’s death while also rescuing Skunk.

The big twist though comes in the final five minutes when the audience discovers that Moe is an undercover cop. Skunk didn’t know and neither did Perico till the grand finale. Even Moe doesn’t know that he is one. Following his memory loss, Moe operated strictly on rage. An unexpected tape recording results in utter chaos for the movie’s main characters and the ending is properly depressing.

Liam Hemsworth made back-to-back movies in this ilk. Following Killerman, there was Arkansas (2020), which is a better movie that this one, no doubt. Liam Hemsworth is in need of an absolute gem; the last movie many people would recognize him in is the atrocious Independence Day: Resurgence (2016).

Whenever I tried to watch Killerman in extended spurts, my girlfriend would ask “Are you watching that shitty movie again?”. I simply would moan, “Yes.” Killerman is a killer of time.

STANKO RATING: D (2.0/5 Stars)

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