Review of Parker (2013) by Reddave2 — 13 Mar 2013

Good old Jason Statham. He's made quite a few movies as the though but moral hardman who lives by a strict guideline. And yet when I think of his best roles I think of Snatch, Lock Stock & Mean Machine all films where he shows more comic timing than you might expect. And its something that Parker could have done with.

This is an action thriller that really should have been made in the 80's. It needs its tongue to stick a little more out of its check. The action scenes are done very well (one scene with a knife and a balcony is great) but thats to be expected from JS. He has a likeable charisma and just about carries the character of parker. They also have Michael Chiklis as chief villain he's a good fit for the role but doesn't get used enough for me. Instead of getting some fun, silly grandstanding from both guys, we get a more serious take on things which takes away from the mood rather than adds. The problem is the overall plot is rather silly. Thats not a bad thing as such but the film seems to want to play things very straight where a lighter touch would have helped things along much better in my mind.

I haven't mentioned J-lo yet and there's a reason. She adds nothing. At all. She lacks the charm for the role and (no offence obviously) but she seems too pretty and confident for a character who is, essential down on their look and desperate for a break from life. Really not sure what her character is meant to bring to the film she's not a love interest, she's doesn't bring fun or laughs and she fails at bringing sympathy. She's not even really a damsel in distress. The film would work pretty much ok without her.

Parker could have been better but as it is, it's not really worth bothering with. It's also quite long for a film of it's type and I reckon you may just be too bored by the end.