Wild Card

It's such a bad film. What's happened to Simon West? It's odd to think this is the guy that made Con Air and The Mechanic. Here he continues his fall into mediocrity; Stolen, The Expendables 2, and now Wild Card. Anyway, here Simon West and Jason Statham attempt another 1970s remake, but this time the results are much less appealing. Statham has earned his dues, so he gets a pass in this tedious Vegas thriller, but everyone else in the film is just awful. It's chock-full of bad actors, one of which is Dominik Garcia-Lorido, who is simply a terrible actress. Then there's Michael Angarano, another awful actor. Milo Ventimiglia, while impressively muscular, is just an awful actor. Stanley Tucci has about 4 minutes of screen time. Sofia Vergara, also with about 4 minutes, is super sexy but also a bad actress. And apparently Anne Heche is in the film, but I couldn't find her. There were women (a black jack dealer and a diner waitress) that kind of looked like they could be her, but I'm sure it wasn't Anne Heche. Very strange.

It's important to note that this is not your "usual Statham actioner". The opening credits proudly states choreography by Cory Yuen, so one would be expected to look forward to great fight sequences, but apart from a pretty cool final alley fight, the film is ultra thin on violence. It's mainly talking and filler. Wild Card is a bore.

D+

I thought it was really OK. I was expecting Vergara to be in it more and the film is a bit flawed with its pacing too. But Statham is good to watch, his character his interesting enough and while a bit unfathomable his winning black jack streak had my attention the most. Other than that it's a bit average, there's a few nice scenes of violence, but it comes up short to many better films Statham has starred in. Anyway I didn't mind this still, it's at least average.

C+