Wild Card [Blu-ray]

Absolutely cracking 'art-house action', if such a genre exists. If it doesn't then Jason Statham and William Goldman just invented it.If you're used to Statham's more typical non-stop fight flicks, then you may be disappointed by Wild Card's talky script and slow-burn pacing. It's an intelligent, thought-provoking character-led drama, which just happens to have three stunning fight sequences perfectly inserted into its storyline. The dialogue is so crisp and witty (and especially well delivered not just by Statham but also by Stanley Tucci in one of many stand-out cameos) that you won't want to miss a word. Statham's performance demonstrates a depth we rarely get to see from the guy... and then he delivers some of the best, bone-crunching action set pieces we've seen in years. He's completely credible as Nick Wild, a man so hard he'd not sully himself with using a gun a to kill an opponent, and the range of other actors - who add texture and background to Wild's deteriorating life story - is superb.Wild Card is let down a little by its odd pacing and strangely flat direction; in keeping with art movies but which results in a mono-tone rather than the gradual ramping of tension which the storyline deserves.And the opening 15 minute sequence will certainly put off some people who won't bother watching beyond that - so they'll miss the twist. Stick with it, even though you may be wondering what you've done during the initial bar-room scene... Also definitely aim to watch the extended version because this isn't a particularly long film and we enjoyed every minute. The half-hour of special features were better than average, too.An entertaining interpretation of the standard revenge storyline, made all the more interesting by some soul-searching into the nature of risk-taking and gambling addiction.8/10

Jason Statham can do serious, thoughtful roles (I thought he was excellent in Hummingbird for instance). This film, while having an interesting premise feels 'off'. The actors are all good, the plot, while very very slow, does progress, the cinematography etc is all decent enough. I just feel the director didn't get the best out of them. Everything feels stale and flat. You may find yourself skipping large portions of the film when you realise you can jump 5, 10 minutes at a time and lose nothing of consequence.

Be warned: Not your typical Jason Statham film. If you're expecting car chases (Transporter, Fast and Furious) then you will be disappointed (like I was), initially). This film has a very art-house feel to it - there's almost no background music and it's very, very quiet. The story is lengthy, and may leave you wondering what the point is - to give you an idea, there were at least two points where I thought the film was about to finish. Full of suspense and twists, this is a good film with occasional action/violence, but if you're after high-speed adrenaline-octane action, look elsewhere.

Same old formulae from Statham and Hollywood which includes an incident at the beginning of the film, followed by martial arts fighting, gun fire, a car chase or two, an explosion and the happy ending using the contrived script that includes ''Heads up'' , ''I had your back''

Nicely done fight sequences and a couple of the actions are good, such as the retribution for beating up his girlfriend, but pretty much everything else in the movie makes no sense.

This movie will not win any awards but it's a nice way to switch off for 95 mins on a Saturday night, don't take it too seriously and you will most probably enjoy it, I liked it but didn't love it. Seen a lot worse than this recently. Stat ham as usual is solid and there are a few funny moments. I thought the action scenes were good. It wasn't non stop action but I didn't mind that for a change. Rent it !

The pacing is uneven and The Stath’s attempts at proper dramatic acting are a bit wooden but there are some good moments and a few nice quirks.

Jason delivers his usual macho stuff with gusto. Could have been better but all said and done it was enjoyable.