Writer & director Jesse V. Johnson's fast-paced, above-average, straight-to-video, B-movie "White Elephant" makes the grade as an entertaining, often violent, crime thriller. Michael Rooker, Olga Kurylenko, Bruce Willis, and John Malkovich head up a robust cast in this lean and mean, 92-minute, actioneer. Basically, three rival criminal empires clash, but none of them survive in this baptism by fire. This ideology reverberates with the familiar 'crime doesn't pay' theme. Mob boss Arnold Solomon (Bruce Willis of "Die Hard") relies implicitly on his chief enforcer, a pistol-packing, former Marine, Gabriel Tancredi (Michael Rooker of "The Replacement Killers"), to keep everything running smoothly. Unfortunately, things unravel early in this yarn when two plainclothes detectives tail Gabriel's new sidekick, Carlo Garcia (Vadhir Derbez of "The Seventh Day"), to a motel where another notorious Latino crime boss has holed up. Carlo is an extrovert, former military sniper versed in martial arts who wears outlandish footwear. When his deal with Luis Velasquez (Ski Carr of "Faster") goes south, the ex-sniper guns down this loudmouthed villain and his two plug ugly goons and then blows them to kingdom come with an explosives charge. Meantime, our two plainclothes detectives, Michael Rose (Walter Koschek of "Pitch Perfect 3") and Vanessa Flynn (Olga Kurylenko of "Quantum of Solace"), witness the explosion, but Carlo gets away before they can arrest him. Later, Gabriel accompanies Carlo to take care of Detective Rose.
Surprising an unsuspecting Rose at his home where he lives alone, Gabriel and Garcia gun him down and then efficiently butcher his body into small pieces. Cramming those body parts into two suitcases equipped with wheels, they bury these two pieces of luggage in an anonymous grave where nobody will ever find the ill-fated detective's remains. Afterward, Garcia and his crew botch their attack on Flynn. Awakening late one evening to a dog barking, Flynn drops three of Garcia's hand-picked assassins in their tracks. One of those killers reveals his identity moments before Flynn can finish him off. As it turns out, the assailant is none other than Detective Lanier (Antwan Mills of "The Mule"), one of the local cops who replaced Flynn on the Garcia case! Horrified by this revelation of police corruption within her own ranks, Flynn flees, leaving Garcia to obliterate Lanier's head so the authorities cannot identify him. Despite a departmental order to surrender voluntarily to her own people, Flynn prefers to go into hiding.
Basically, "White Elephant" gets off to a bang-up start. Predictably, Soloman is not amused with Garcia's snafu, and he criticizes Tancredi's choice of a replacement to safeguard his underworld skullduggery. Later, the Russian mob tries to terminate Soloman with extreme prejudice in broad daylight, but they succeed in only killing Soloman's wife, Tomi (Lauren Buglioli of "Vendetta"), while Arnold escapes death and allows his rage to unhinge him. At this point, Soloman's attorney, Glen Follett (John Malkovich of "In The Line of Fire") warns Tancredi that in his thirst for revenge, Solomon is about to precipitate a war that will wipe out his legitimate business empire. Follett advises Tancredi to seek greener pastures. Nevertheless, Tancredi remains loyal to Soloman, even after his vindictive superior orders him to liquidate the Russians.
Eventually, Tancredi realizes Follett is right about Soloman's destructive urges, and he decides stop working for lifelong friend because the crime boss has gone off his rocker. At this point, Soloman sends Carlo after Flynn who is hiding in a motel, and he summons Tancredi to help finish off the detective. Instead, Tancredi decides to change sides and team up with Flynn. Together, this unlikely duo repulse a virtual army of trigger-happy gunmen, some of whom are corrupt police detectives. Soloman orders his hired guns to surround Tancredi's residence and wipe out Flynn and his former chief enforcer. Tancredi's memories of his late wife prompted a change of heart on his part. When "White Elephant" unfolds we watch as the ex-Jarhead visits the mausoleum where his deceased wife's ashes rest. She never knew about his nefarious criminal conduct because he shielded her from his dark side. Nevertheless, she felt Tancredi was born for better things than killing Russian crime czars. Tancredi's change of heart, an obvious character arc that he embarks on before the finale when we see him realize his dream of relocating to Africa to protect endangered elephants ends this white-hot actioneer on a positive note.
Although it seems convoluted, "White Elephant" unfolds swiftly with gunplay galore. Garcia misjudges Flynn's survival skills badly, while his old boss Tancredi looks at this female cop from a different perspective and decides to align himself with her against Soloman and his henchmen. Talk about a change of heart! The assault on Tancredi's residence in the middle of nowhere is reminiscent of the attack the Colombians launched on Scarface's palatial house in Brian De Palma's 80's remake of "Scarface!" However, as Tancredi explains when he ushers Flynn onto his property, the contract killer has built a house which can withstand a full-blown assault. Although the logistics of the conflict are complicated, action expert Jesse V. Johnson orchestrates the pyrotechnics with nerve and verve. Mind you, Bruce Willis has little to do with the fireworks. He spends most of his time as an obnoxious crime boss sitting around ranting and raving about his predicament. Willis musters neither much charisma nor charm as a one-dimensional crime boss. Meantime, Michael Rooker and Olga Kurylenko steal the show, while John Malkovich lurks on the periphery as Solomon's crooked shyster attorney who spouts Greek history and its relevance to Soloman's woebegone ways.
Surprising an unsuspecting Rose at his home where he lives alone, Gabriel and Garcia gun him down and then efficiently butcher his body into small pieces. Cramming those body parts into two suitcases equipped with wheels, they bury these two pieces of luggage in an anonymous grave where nobody will ever find the ill-fated detective's remains. Afterward, Garcia and his crew botch their attack on Flynn. Awakening late one evening to a dog barking, Flynn drops three of Garcia's hand-picked assassins in their tracks. One of those killers reveals his identity moments before Flynn can finish him off. As it turns out, the assailant is none other than Detective Lanier (Antwan Mills of "The Mule"), one of the local cops who replaced Flynn on the Garcia case! Horrified by this revelation of police corruption within her own ranks, Flynn flees, leaving Garcia to obliterate Lanier's head so the authorities cannot identify him. Despite a departmental order to surrender voluntarily to her own people, Flynn prefers to go into hiding.
Basically, "White Elephant" gets off to a bang-up start. Predictably, Soloman is not amused with Garcia's snafu, and he criticizes Tancredi's choice of a replacement to safeguard his underworld skullduggery. Later, the Russian mob tries to terminate Soloman with extreme prejudice in broad daylight, but they succeed in only killing Soloman's wife, Tomi (Lauren Buglioli of "Vendetta"), while Arnold escapes death and allows his rage to unhinge him. At this point, Soloman's attorney, Glen Follett (John Malkovich of "In The Line of Fire") warns Tancredi that in his thirst for revenge, Solomon is about to precipitate a war that will wipe out his legitimate business empire. Follett advises Tancredi to seek greener pastures. Nevertheless, Tancredi remains loyal to Soloman, even after his vindictive superior orders him to liquidate the Russians.
Eventually, Tancredi realizes Follett is right about Soloman's destructive urges, and he decides stop working for lifelong friend because the crime boss has gone off his rocker. At this point, Soloman sends Carlo after Flynn who is hiding in a motel, and he summons Tancredi to help finish off the detective. Instead, Tancredi decides to change sides and team up with Flynn. Together, this unlikely duo repulse a virtual army of trigger-happy gunmen, some of whom are corrupt police detectives. Soloman orders his hired guns to surround Tancredi's residence and wipe out Flynn and his former chief enforcer. Tancredi's memories of his late wife prompted a change of heart on his part. When "White Elephant" unfolds we watch as the ex-Jarhead visits the mausoleum where his deceased wife's ashes rest. She never knew about his nefarious criminal conduct because he shielded her from his dark side. Nevertheless, she felt Tancredi was born for better things than killing Russian crime czars. Tancredi's change of heart, an obvious character arc that he embarks on before the finale when we see him realize his dream of relocating to Africa to protect endangered elephants ends this white-hot actioneer on a positive note.
Although it seems convoluted, "White Elephant" unfolds swiftly with gunplay galore. Garcia misjudges Flynn's survival skills badly, while his old boss Tancredi looks at this female cop from a different perspective and decides to align himself with her against Soloman and his henchmen. Talk about a change of heart! The assault on Tancredi's residence in the middle of nowhere is reminiscent of the attack the Colombians launched on Scarface's palatial house in Brian De Palma's 80's remake of "Scarface!" However, as Tancredi explains when he ushers Flynn onto his property, the contract killer has built a house which can withstand a full-blown assault. Although the logistics of the conflict are complicated, action expert Jesse V. Johnson orchestrates the pyrotechnics with nerve and verve. Mind you, Bruce Willis has little to do with the fireworks. He spends most of his time as an obnoxious crime boss sitting around ranting and raving about his predicament. Willis musters neither much charisma nor charm as a one-dimensional crime boss. Meantime, Michael Rooker and Olga Kurylenko steal the show, while John Malkovich lurks on the periphery as Solomon's crooked shyster attorney who spouts Greek history and its relevance to Soloman's woebegone ways.