Parker movie poster
B-
FilmJabber
NA
Users
YOUR RATING
A
B
C
D
F
Parker movie poster

Parker Movie Review

Now available on Blu-ray and DVD (Buy on Amazon)

Jason Statham is back in the latest Jason Statham movie, where he plays Jason Statham doing Jason Statham things. The name of the game is Parker and it serves as the actor's best film in years, but ultimately it feels like just another - sorry to sound repetitive - Jason Statham movie.

In Parker, Statham plays the title character, a thief with morals. After he pulls off a successful heist at the Ohio State Fair, he is betrayed by his cohorts (including Michael Chiklis) and left for dead. After recovering, he vows revenge and goes after them. Somewhere along the way, he teams with a down-on-her-luck real estate agent, played by a horny Jennifer Lopez.

With a better supporting cast than usual and a script written by one of the guys who did the Oscar-winning Black Swan, Parker feels less like the typical Statham vehicle. The plot, as simple as it is, is more grounded than many of his other recent ventures, and his character has a more interesting back story than the I-am-a-badass-just-because explanation he usually relies on, while still being a badass-just-because.

At the same time, as the story progresses, Parker slowly devolves into standard Jason Statham fare. In other words: not bad, but not amazingly good, and ultimately forgettable.

The final third of the movie switches into action mode, where Statham goes around getting in fistfights and gunfights and killing people. The action isn't bad, but it isn't remarkable, either. I watched the movie four hours ago and I can already barely remember how it concludes.

Parker is a decent movie, but like so many Jason Statham movies that is all it is. There was a time where this was forgivable, but with declining returns the suave actor needs to figure out a way to really mix things up. Doing generic thrillers isn't working for him anymore.

Review by Erik Samdahl unless otherwise indicated.

B-
FilmJabber
NA
Users
YOUR RATING
A
B
C
D
F