Review of Parker (2013) by Quincytheodore — 04 Feb 2013

If Jason Statham has been stuck in one-dimensional roles, he's not going to make any breakthrough at Parker, despite having southern accent and hair at the first scene. A bit of action, more of heist thriller, Parker is overly long and awkwardly paced. Fight scenes are sparse, for those who hope for high octane skull mashing, this probably won't meet such expectation. Addition of Jennifer Lopez adds some light humorous touches, warranting her appearance more than just an eye candy.

Parker (Jason Statham) is a man betrayed by his teammate after completing an almost botched heist, he was shot and left to death. Unsurprisingly, he doesn't die and vows revenge instead. Most of the movie is cat-and-mouse plots as he chases them across countries in not so exciting pace. There are a couple of fights in between, although the amount feels lacking for a movie led by Jason. For these few scenes, they are done quite well though. Unbarred bone breaking punches, kicks and other assortments of nearby potential weapon swinging are viscerally entertaining.

The rest is a bare heist plot, which really won't hold a candle compare to more cerebral crime action movies. Pacing is undeniably slow, most of the things happen on-screen, even some with both leads appearing, are somewhat lackluster. The movie has about two hours in length and frankly with this long dragging set-up, one might expect some clever scheme building up towards the end, but it is not so. Without spoiling anything, the pace is equally stale from start to finish.

Jason Statham bring his usual screen presence, he's a rugged, honor bound thief who keeps his principles religiously. When he threatens or hurts someone, he does so very earnestly, at that regard, he fulfills his role. Jennifer Lopez as Leslie is actually quite good. For someone who has superstar fame, she acts as poor people convincingly. There are modesty and honesty when she appears as well, making her likeable to the audience, aside for her popularly known hind allure.

The two leading actors do their parts well, however the script and direction are mediocre. Parker is a bland movie, which has brief excitements across its lengthy run, albeit not nearly enough for the whole.