Given its title and premise, one might expect 2019’s Killers Anonymous to offer a black comedy. To some degree, this becomes the case, but much of the tale focuses on its thriller and mystery elements.

Set in London, we meet the members of “Killers Anonymous”, a support group for assassins who want to reform. “The Man” (Gary Oldman) is one of the older hitmen, and he acts as a sponsor for the younger Jade (Jessica Alba).

After someone attempts to assassinate US Senator Kyle (Sam Hazeldine), members of KA deal with the aftermath. This takes the killers down a variety of paths.

Initially I felt tempted to accuse Killers of Tarantino-wannabe status, but that doesn’t really feel correct. Instead, the film comes across more like an imitation of Tarantino filtered through other directors, perhaps with more of a Guy Ritchie vibe in general.

At its core, Killers brings a tale with real promise. The notion of a support group for assassins who hope to “cure” themselves seems like a fun one, so the flick feels ripe for entertainment.

That might become the case if Killers gave us a movie with even the most basic form of coherence. Essentially you can take the plot synopsis I offered and flush it down the toilet, as the film jumps around so much that it barely attempts a real narrative.

Much of the flick’s first half simply offers extended introductions to the assassins as well as some red herring-ish moments. After that, we go more into the mystery side of the tale, with an emphasis on plot points connected to the assault on the Senator.

With only 96 minutes at its disposal, Killers bites off way more than it can chew. It suffers from far too brief a running time to flesh out the various characters and also spin a story of crime and betrayal.

That means Killers rushes through all its narrative components and feels both rushed and thin. We barely remember the names of characters, much less invest in them or the overall plot.

Alba and Oldman receive high billing but they seem to appear in the picture for paycheck reasons more than anything else. Both characters feel superfluous, as the movie could easily exist without them and not suffer in the least.

The general messiness and the lack of real personality become impediments to the film’s success. As I noted, the basic premise seems promising, but the movie can’t hold together its different elements.

By the time Killers needs to kick into higher gear, it feels too late, as the viewer probably will have abandoned much hope by then. This tale of repentant assassins should offer a lively endeavor, but the end result lacks creativity or thrills.

Killers Anonymous appears in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a positive visual presentation.

Sharpness worked well. Only minor softness occurred, so this usually remained a tight, well-defined image.

The image lacked signs of moiré effects or jaggies. Neither edge haloes nor print flaws marred the image.

Extremely stylized, the palette favored heavy orange, though it also threw out some prominent teal, reds and other tones at times. The hues seemed well-rendered for the film’s visual intentions.

Blacks offered good depth and richness, while shadows seemed smooth. Low-light shots presented accurate visuals with just the right touch of opacity. The transfer looked solid.

Given the movie’s action orientation, I thought the DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack seemed a little low-key. Still, it kicked to life at times, mainly during the occasional violent scenes. These added good movement around the room, but they didn’t appear often enough to make a huge impact.

Otherwise, the soundscape focused on music and general atmosphere. Those elements used the speakers in a satisfying manner, even if they didn’t bring out a lot of pizzazz.

Audio quality worked fine. Music appeared full and warm, while speech seemed natural and concise.

Effects provided accurate material with good low-end kick at times. Though it rarely excelled, the soundtrack became more than acceptable.

A few extras pop up here, and we find an audio commentary from director Martin Owen and cinematographer Håvard Helle. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at story and characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, cinematography, editing, stunts/action and related domains.

Though Helle chimes in at times, Owen dominates this track, and much of the time, he veers toward praise for the film and all involved. Still, I like his gruffly funny personality, and Owen offers enough useful material to make this a moderately satisfactory piece.

In addition to an Alternate Ending (7:37), we find six Deleted Scenes (12:11). The “Ending” sends the movie down a moderately different path, with more of a focus on a character who plays a less prominent role in the finished film’s finale.

As for the “Deleted Scenes”, they tend to offer expanded information about various roles. A little plot information emerges as well, but these clips seem more character-based than expository. They’re watchable but not especially memorable.

The disc opens with ads for Crypto, The Poison Rose and Backtrace. We also get the trailer for Killers.

As much as I like the idea of story about assassins in recovery, Killers Anonymous lacks personality or forward momentum. It presents an inconsistent, scattered narrative that never clicks. The Blu-ray brings good picture and audio along with a handful of bonus materials. Killers squanders its potential and ends up as a mediocre adventure.