Still A Trick Or Two Up His Sleeve.."Wild Card"

Wild Card (2015)

Rated R

Starring Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Milo Ventimiglia, Stanley Tucci,

Directed by Simon West

The Story:

Nick Wild (Statham) is a bodyguard in Vegas with a heart of gold but with a big gambling problem. Probably not the place to run a business if you've got that kind of issue. Cyrus Kinnick (Angarano) comes into town and wants to gamble big this weekend, so he hires Nick to keep him safe. During that same weekend, Nick stops by for a little revenge session on a thug (Ventimiglia) who beat one of his friends. The bad part, that guy has connections, and now it seems all of Vegas is after Nick. Can he beat the odds and get out of Vegas in one piece?

Wild Card has a great pedigree with the cast and crew assembled, but it hits a few rough notes along the way. That's odd for a movie written by William Goldman, so it's hard to tell if it's deviating from the script or trying to stay true to the story.

It's another one where there are long stretches without action, so that might cause the usual Statham fans to start having withdrawls, but stick around, when he does go into action, it's always worth it.

There are several supporting characters that are in the movie and then disappear without much further fanfare, so it seems odd. Why even introduce them if they aren't going to play any importance in the film?

That complaint aside, I enjoyed the ride from beginning to end. A few familiar beats throughout the movie, but when you've seen a lifetime of action films, it's not easy to find something new.

Normally, you just hope that you aren't disappointed.

I'm rarely disappointed with the entries in Statham's catalog of work, and this one is no exception.

Currently streaming on Amazon Prime as of this writing.

Final Grade:  B- / C+ range

Relive The Heist Heard Round The World..."Empire State"

Empire State (2013)
Rated R for language and violence

Starring: Liam Hemsworth, Michael Angarano, Dwayne Johnson

The Story:

Chris (Hemsworth) starts working as a security guard for the Empire State armored car company.  Shortly after starting, he is involved in a robbery attempt.  At that point, he mentions to his friend Eddie (Angarano) that the security is pretty lax and the millions they store in the vault would be easy pickings.  Well, Eddie talks... wheels get set in motion, and suddenly the company is robbed.  Detective Ransone (Johnson) begins investigating and all signs point to the robbery being an inside job.

Did I mention that this was a real story?

The actual Chris involved wrote the script and produced the film.

Guess where he got the money?

:)

You'll find out at the end that some of the money that went missing was never recovered. 

Things that make you go...hmm...


Overall, not a bad film, though Hemsworth could use a shot of charisma.  He's definitely not his brother, but come on, between this and Paranoia, I'm finding it hard to take him seriously as the star of a film.


Don't let the cover fool you, Emma Roberts is nothing more than a glorified cameo.

Even The Rock...sorry, Dwayne Johnson, only is in the film for less than half the runtime.  His parts are well used to bridge the movie together.

But this is all Hemsworth, all the time.

As Heist Films go, it's okay.  Considering they got away with it, to some extent, way to go guys.


Now streaming on Netflix as of this writing.


Final Grade: C+

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Not a purchase, but I could watch it again if it was on and I couldn't find the remote. ;)