WILD CARD

Director: Simon West
Writers: William Goldman
Stars: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Dominik García-Lorido
Strength: Acting, action and fight choreography
Weakness: Story and plot development
Runtime: 92 minutes
Rating: 3/5
Plot: When a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal skills and a gambling problem gets in trouble with the mob, he has one last play...and it's all or nothing.
Review: Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal professional skills and a personal gambling problem. When a friend is beaten by a sadistic thug, Nick strikes back, only to find out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss. Suddenly Nick is plunged into the criminal underworld, chased by enforcers and wanted by the mob. To add to his troubles, when he goes too far and loses the biggest hand he has ever owned, it seems that there is no way out for Nick. Wild Card has been a passion project of Jason Statham's for several years, the actor having even secured Brian De Palma for the director's chair at one point. With De Palma stepping away, Statham enlisted the competent but much less exciting Simon West with whom he'd already collaborated on The Mechanic and The Expendables 2. From its top notch cast to its look and pacing, Wild Card feels like it wants to be a gritty drama, a moody character piece with bursts of action and well-choreographed fights. Unfortunately it never quite reaches the heights of its ambitions, the film being unable to conjure up something special, unexpected, original enough to put it over the top. But that doesn't mean that the film is not an entertainer. The film draws you into this world easily and convincingly. The acting is very strong and the characters are pretty appealing. The writing is sharp. While there are only but a few of them, the action scenes, handled by Hong Kong legend and frequent Statham collaborator Cory Yuen, are incredible and memorable. All this makes for a perfectly serviceable film but one unfortunately stuck between two worlds. Which makes it quite a shame that Brian De Palma backed out of the project as his style would have no doubt elevated Wild Card to something pretty fascinating.

Reviewed by Mohammad Haque