Killing Gunther

Movie review by Brian Costello, Common Sense Media
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Common Sense says

age 17+

Gratuitous violence, language in dreadful dark comedy.

R 2017 93 minutes
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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Killing Gunther is a 2017 dark comedy in which a group of hitmen and hitwomen try to take down the world's greatest hitman. Expect lots of violence -- everything from machine gun killings, gunshot killings, exploding boats and cars, rocket launcher attacks, snake attacks, stabbings, sniper shooting, and a hanging body. There's also constant profanity, including "f--k" in regular usage. At a bachelorette party, women are shown sculpting penises out of clay. Some talk of sex, and two characters end up sleeping together. Binge drinking. One of the lead characters smokes cigarettes.

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What's the Story?

In KILLING GUNTHER, a group of hitmen are trying to take down Gunther, a world-renowned hitman considered to be the best. These self obsessed hitpeople, ostensibly led by Blake (Taran Killam), travel the world in search of Gunther, but are foiled by Gunther at every turn. One by one, Gunther takes down each of his rivals, as Blake and the surviving killers try to hatch a new scheme to catch Gunther. For the sake of posterity, Blake has hired a documentary film crew in the hopes of filming the death of Gunther as it happens, but as things go from bad to worse, Blake forces them at gunpoint to remain with them until Gunther is finally killed. Blake is partly motivated to take down Gunther because Lisa, his former girlfriend, ended up involved with Gunther, even though she maintains that she was only briefly involved with Gunther, and left Blake because he was so focused on his career over everything else. But when Lisa gives Blake Gunther's home address in Austria, Blake, who was ready to abandon the attempts on Gunther's life after one too many deaths of his colleagues, goes to Austria to confront Gunther once and for all.

Is It Any Good?

This is a stupid and terrible movie. It's almost impressive how a movie that's supposed to be a comedy, one directed, written, and acted by comedic performers, fails to generate a single moment of humor. In this faux-documentary, these hitmen and hitwomen who are trying to kill the alpha of hitmen (played by an actor that's supposed to be a surprise, but even the most cursory internet search spoils that potential fun) resort to violence at any given opportunity, and are the victims of violence themselves at the hands of said alpha hitman. None of it works, and the result is a lot of gratuitous violence, boozing, and self indulgent karaoke. That they couldn't even get humor out of these characters performing karaoke speaks volumes.

There probably was a decent idea behind this, as it comes across as an attempt to parody the sensibility of Tarantino and all he hath wrought, as well as perhaps the Oceans series, only with SNL alums instead of an A-List cast. Unfortunately, something got lost along the way. When comedy like this doesn't work, it just comes across as smug and cynical. That's pretty much what lingers after watching this movie. By the time we get to the "big reveal" of Gunther's identity, there's more of a relief that the movie is nearly over instead of caring one way or the other what happens to these characters.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about dark comedies. How does this compare to others you've seen? What's the appeal of this type of movie?

  • How does this movie try to use violence for the sake of comedy? Does it work? Why or why not?

  • The lead character smokes cigarettes, and many of the characters are shown binge drinking in a bar Does this glamorize smoking and drinking, or is it supposed to simply be a reflection of who these characters are?

Movie Details

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