Wild Card - 'Jason Statham plays so faithfully to brooding action hero type that is almost verges on parody'

Tanya Sweeney

Action. Jason Statham, Sofia Vergara, Michael Angarano, Anne Heche, Hope Davis, Stanley Tucci Dominik Garcia-Lorido. Director: Simon West. Cert: 16

If Ryan Reynolds has gone against swashbuckling type in The Voices, the same can't be said for Jason Statham, who plays so faithfully to brooding action hero type in Wild Card that is almost verges on parody.

Luckily, Statham can mix the shoot-outs and high-speed car chases with a satisfying soupcon of charm. Sofia Vergara, usually seen proving her comedy chops in Modern Family, is little more than window dressing in this role.

Wild Card is a remake of the 1987 action flick, which starred Burt Reynolds as the movie's hero.

Against the glittering backdrop of Las Vegas, Statham plays Nick Wild this time around. Wild is a bodyguard whose own healthy appetite for gambling gets him into trouble with the mob.

In a bid to clear his sizeable debt, he opts for one last play, and naturally all manner of high-octane chaos ensues.

In theory, we are in good hands here. William Goldman, the writing heavyweight behind All The President's Men, Misery, Chaplin and Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, is in the driver's seat as scribe. Alas, director Simon West allows the action to unfold at a bewilderingly leisurely pace. It's a departure from your common-or-garden action movie. The thrills don't come at breakneck speed.

What's perhaps most surprising here is that, even under Goldman's watchful eye, the story is a bit... well, boring. It's likely that action hero fans won't care for the languid pace or the hackneyed attempts to inject a bit of depth into an otherwise pedestrian tale. There are thrills in store, granted, but the overall story is lacking some much needed razzle-dazzle.

Statham certainly keeps up his end of the bargain, but for a truly engrossing crime caper, you're better off looking elsewhere.