Taran Killam’s directorial debut for “Killing Gunther”, a film he wrote and starred in, is no doubt a film full of laughs and plenty of action. I was surprised how entertaining and fun this film was and not at all hyper-moronic. And what best than to see Arnold Schwarzenegger return to a film to display his comedic and action talent. An entertaining popcorn comedy/action film worth watching…”Killing Gunther” is worth watching!
© 2017 Lionsgate. All Rights Reserved.
TITLE: Killing Gunther
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 2017
DURATION: 95 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p (1:85:1 Aspect Ratio), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish
COMPANY: Lionsgate
RATED: R
RELEASE DATE: December 26, 2017
Directed by Taran Killam
Screenplay by Taran Killam
Produced by Taran Killam, Kim Leadford, Ash Sarohia, Steven Squillante
Executive Producer: Charles Auty, Maxime Cottray, Liz Destro, Sean Andrew Maurer, Steven Pottash, Arnold Schwarzenegger, D. Todd Shepherd, Joe Simpson, Andrew Xavier Yakub
Associate Producer: Daniel J. Elder, Peter Pietrangeli
Music by Dino Meneghin
Cinematographer: Blake McClure
Edited by Adam Epstein
Casting by Judy Lee
Production Design by Armanno Di Febo-Orsini
Art Direction by Cynthia E. Hill
Set Decoration by Jacqueline Miller
Costume Design by Reiko Kurumada, Ariana Preece
Starring:
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Robert “Gunther” Bendik
Cobie Smulders as Lisa McCalla
Hannah Simone as Sanaa
Allison Tolman as Mia
Taran Killam as Blake
Steve Bacic as Max
Amir Talai as Izzat
Bobby Moynihan as Donnie
Scott McNeil as Cheyenne
Aaron Yoo as Yong
Paul Britain as Gabe
Peter Kelamis as Rahmat
Ryan Gaul as Barold
Alex Duncan as Jewel
Aubrey Sixto as Ashley
KILLING GUNTHER is a comedy set in the world of contract killers. A group of young, raw, and undisciplined assassins hire a docu-crew at gunpoint to have undeniable proof that they’re the ones who will kill the most infamous hit man of all time, Gunther (Arnold Schwarzenegger). But Gunther is on to them before they know it and makes their lives a living hell, turning the hunters into the prey in a kill-or-be-killed race against time.
Saturday Night Live star and actor Taran Killam (“12 Years a Slave”, “Brother Nature”) makes his directorial debut in the action-comedy, “Killing Gunther”. A film which he also writes and stars as the main protagonist.
The film also stars Arnold Schwarzenegger (“Terminator” films”, “True Lies”, “Predator”), Cobie Smulders (“Avengers” films, “Jack reacher”, “Safe Haven”), Hannah Simone (“New Girl”, “Old Boy”, “Folk Hero & Funny Guy”), Allison Tolman (“The Gift”), Steve Bacic (“The 6th Day”, “X-Men 2”, “Good Luck Chuck”), Bobby Moynihan (“Saturday Night Live”, “Sisters”), Aaron Yoo (“21”, “Disturbia”, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”), Ryan Gaul (“Identity Thief”, “Father Figures”), Amir Talat (“The Circle”, “Harold & Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay”, “Legally Blonde 2”) and Paul Britain (“Saturday Night Live”, “Hotel Transylvania” films).
And now the film will be released on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate.
The film revolves around a hitman named Blake (portrayed by Taran Killam) who wants to kill the world’s greatest hitman, the mysterious Gunther (portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger) for sleeping and stealing his girlfriend, Lisa McCalla (portrayed by Cobie Smulders).
Now Blake has recruited a group of assassins to kill Gunther. Including deadly assassin Sanaa (portrayed by Hannah Simone) and daughter of legendary hitman, Rahmat Fairouza, bomb and explosives professional Donnie (portrayed by Bobby Moynihan), poison expert Yong (portrayed by Aaron Yoo), former extremist Izzat (portrayed by Amir Talai), hacker/computer expert Gabe (portrayed by Paul Britain) and Russian couple Mia (portrayed by Allison Tolman) and Barold (portrayed by Ryan Gaul). And Blake’s mentor and assassin, Ashley (portrayed by Aubrey Sixto). And also, Blake has his friend Max (portrayed by Steve Bacic) involved.
And Blake has also hired a documentary crew to document how this group will kill Gunther. The problem, no one knows Gunther and what he looks like.
But on the first meeting and as Max is going to reveal Gunther’s location, Gunther uses a sniper and kills Max and shoots an RPG towards the group. Meanwhile, Ashley who is getting out of the hospital, has a heart attack while discussing killing Gunther.
With two people down, the group sets up a fake hit and when Gunther is at a building, the group goes after him and tries to kill him but Gunther ends up evading the group and during a fight with Izzat, manages to choke the extremist with his robotic hand.
While Sanaa was able to pull of a shot and get Gunther in the leg, she is about to get shot but is saved by Donnie who instantly falls for her.
As the group loses Gunther and reviews the security footage, they see Gunther wearing a mask of Blake and realize he is also a master of disguise.
Can Blake and his remaining group members find a way to kill Gunther? Or will Gunther eliminate all of them?
VIDEO:
“Killing Gunther” is presented in 1080p High Definition (1:85:1 aspect ratio). The film shows great detail on closeups and low-light situations are presented well. Colors are natural, black levels are nice and deep and for the most part, the film looks very good in HD.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Killing Gunther” is presented in English 5.1 DTS-HD MA and features crystal clear dialogue, while action scenes utilize the surround channels very well.  The overall lossless soundtrack is very good!
Subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Killing Gunther” comes with following special feature:
- Deleted Scenes– A short featurette on the working relationship of Judi Dench and Ali Fazal.
- Bloopers – Featuring outtakes from “Killing Gunther”.
EXTRAS:
“Killing Gunther” comes with an UltraViolet Digital HD code.
With Taran Killam making his directorial debut in a comedy/action film, having watched the “Saturday Night Live” talent and also his fellow co-stars in “Killing Gunther” made me think this would be a popcorn comedy/action film that would be moronic or juvenile, like other SNL stars who have appeared in films.
Some manage to create or star in films that are surprisingly good and others who have starred in films that are terribly bad. And with “Killing Gunther”, fortunately this film lands in the “surprisingly good” category as “Killing Gunther” was hilarious and fun!
The film revolves around a ragtag bunch of killers who come together under Killam’s main character, Blake. An assassin who wants revenge against Gunther for stealing and sleeping with his girlfriend.
Brokenhearted about the breakup, he wants nothing but to take down the world’s greatest hitman.
But Gunther is the greatest hitman for a reason. Not only is he a master of disguise but he is often one step ahead of Blake and his group. And despite how murderous Blake’s team is, they are no match against Gunther.
But if Blake can find out who Gunther really is and where he lives, perhaps he has a chance of killing him.
Arnold Schwarzenegger plays the character of Gunther and the actor returns to his comedy roots of playing a hitman that just is impossible to kill, and Schwarzenegger brings the laughs as we see the numerous people he had disguised himself as.
And of course, there are many silly moments throughout the film, as one can expect from Killam. But the most enjoyable part about this film is wondering who will get who and whether or not Blake or Gunther is victorious at the end. And one will no doubt want to stick around after the credits, as we get the answer of who is the last person standing.
As for the Blu-ray, picture and lossless audio quality is great. Special features include deleted scenes and bloopers.
Overall, Taran Killam’s directorial debut for “Killing Gunther”, a film he wrote and starred in, is no doubt a film full of laughs and plenty of action. I was surprised how entertaining and fun this film was and not at all hyper-moronic. And what best than to see Arnold Schwarzenegger return to a film to display his comedic and action talent.
An entertaining popcorn comedy/action film worth watching…”Killing Gunther” is worth watching!
