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Critics Consensus: Hardcore Jason Statham fans may enjoy parts of Wild Card, but all other action aficionados need not apply.
Critic Consensus: Hardcore Jason Statham fans may enjoy parts of Wild Card, but all other action aficionados need not apply.
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All Critics (54) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (37)
It's hard to not feel a slight sense of disappointment when what looks like a steaming hot slab of fresh action filmmaking hot off the grill turns out to be microwaved leftovers.
This film's tagline should be "Come for the stabbing, stay for the gabbing!"
There will be abundant laying waste of unworthy opponents, and the groans you hear will not be his.
Slow-motion knockouts follow, with Mr. Statham as sure-fisted as ever, but the "Expendables" director Simon West can only summon dead air in between.
Sadly, "Wild Card" is no royal flush, no full house, no three of a kind. A bust is I think the term I'm searching for.
No stranger to piloting action films, West allows the yarn to unwind at a perfectly measured pace.
With an unsurprising climax, weak story and repetitive action, the film fails to be half as good as a regular Statham gag must mandatorily be.
Wild Card has a handful of spectacular fights (choreographed by Cory Yuen), sprinkled throughout long stretches of compulsive gambling and macho brooding.
As Jason Statham action flicks go, this is one of the better ones, but it is still only going to appeal to the fans.
This is a snappily-edited film that finds a surprisingly solid middle-ground between fast action and gangster melodrama.
It was a risk asking Statham to do more than just bash baddies... it kind of pays off.
It ain't anything new, but it's entertaining.
Statham is as Statham does and if that's all you look for in a movie then you'll be intermittently pleased with this Heat remake. But if you're looking for a movie that even in the slightest knows what it's about, I'd suggest you look elsewhere.
Super Reviewer
The prolific writer William Goldman is the reason to see this typical Jason Statham thriller, all about Las Vegas and dreams deferred. While nothing unusual happens, the insightful dialogue carries the piece. As well, Statham himself is seen perhaps to be better than his action hero cutout character designation, only lacking the proper vehicle.
Generic and fairly mundane, Wild Card is an underwhelming action film. When one of his friends is beaten and raped Nick Wild, a private security specialist, tracks down the man responsible and helps his friend get her revenge. Jason Statham leads the cast, but gives a pretty rote performance. In fact, none of the acting is particularly good. And the plot is unfocused, shifting between three seemingly unrelated storylines. Wild Card is mildly entertaining at times, but overall it's a rather forgettable film.
Nick: I can take care of things, that's all you need to know. Jason Statham has plenty of talent. Best known as an English tough guy, Statham may not have what some want to call range, but he does know how to direct his energy and inherent charisma into different shades of somewhat similar performances (the dichotomy between The Transporter and Crank is a perfect example). It is promising to learn that Statham took on Wild Card as a personal project, in which he could utilize the skills that he has, putting them into a character drama, which happens to have some action. Unfortunately, too much of this film is dull and plodding, with some questionable performances, and a lack of cohesion, given what the film eventually amounts too. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com
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