Writer: William Goldman (Screenplay) William Goldman (Novel)
Starring: Jason Statham, Michael Angarano, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Hope Davis, Mile Ventimiglia, Max Casella, Stanley Tucci, Jason Alexander, Sofia Vergara, Anne Heche
Plot: When a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal skills and a gambling problem gets in trouble with the mob, he has one last play…and it’s all or nothing.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Statham Action Thriller Stamp
Story: Wild Card starts with a last December timeline where Nick Wild (Statham) is drinking in a bar where he gets mixed up with Osgood (Casella) and his girl DD (Vergara). We see a girl beaten up and dumped outside a hospital and her only word is Nick after being asked who did it. Nick is a security consultant for attorney Pinky (Alexander). A young man Cyrus Kinnick (Angarano) wants to hire Nick to bodyguard him during a night in the casino. We see that the opening fight was just a play to make Osgood look good for the girl.
Holly (Garcia-Lorido) was the girl from the hospital and while released she turns out to be friends with Nick and calling out was for his help. She recounts that story of what happened with three guys raping and beating her up, Holly wants Nick to find the guys responsible so she can sue them. Nick has connection all over town apart from the hotel where the incident happened but he does find out who it was Danny DeMarco (Ventimiglia) but he is warned away.
Nick takes Cyrus on the night around Las Vegas while being conflicted about what happened to Holly, leaving Cyrus in his low stakes gambling Nick goes to Holly and ends up getting involved with helping her get her revenge. Nick pays Danny a visit leaving all three of them laying giving Holly her chance at revenge. Roll credits, wait we have only had 45 minutes so far.
Nick heads to the casino to try and kill some time with his croupier friend Cassandra (Davis) as Nick knows this will be his last night in Vegas. Nick hits an unbelievable streak on the table making the money he wants so he can leave the city once and for all. Nick’s gambling problems come back to hit him when he decides to risk it all to make enough so he will never have to return to Vegas, but blows it all. Cyrus final reveals why he has made contact with Nick and wants to learn how to lose his fear of the world but Nick has to deal with the DeMarco’s.
Wild Card gives us what we are used to from a Jason Statham film, we know he will end up in a fight against multiply opponents while trying to do the right thing. Taking that away we do get elements of the film which take on a more serious note, like his gambling addiction. Unlike certain films touching on the same subject matter we get to see people come and go from the story early than we would expect. When it comes to the base story it works out nicely for an enjoyable action thriller but don’t expect anything ground breaking. (7/10)
Actor Review
Jason Statham: Nick Wild specialist who knows the right people at all the levels of Vegas who ends up helping a friend get revenge on a guy who beat them up. After he does this he ends up having to fight his own demons with addiction while showing a young man around the city. Jason does what he does best, acting moody and kicking ass. (7/10)
Michael Angarano: Cyrus Kinnick young man who hires Nick to show him around town but it turns out he might have a different motive. Michael does a solid job but his character seems to get buried in all the action. (5/10)
Milo Ventimiglia: Danny DeMarco gangster who abuses a woman leading to Nick helping get revenge against him. Milo does a good job with him continuing to take the weasel like villainous role. (7/10)
Support Cast: Wild Card has plenty of supporting characters who mostly only appear in cameo like performance from the better known stars, Stanley Tucci, Sofa Vergara to mention a couple.
Director Review: Simon West – Simon does a solid job directing this to make an action thriller than works with Statham in the lead. (7/10)
Action: Wild Card has a couple of fight scenes that all come off very good in the end. (7/10)
Thriller: Wild Card doesn’t manage to pull you in as much as it could because each chapter of the story seems to get put together very well that is closes it before making us wonder what will happen next. (4/10)
Settings: Wild Card uses Vegas as the setting which is always a good setting for the subject matters involved. (9/10)
Suggestion: Wild Card is one for the action fans to enjoy, it won’t test you too much but can be enjoyed by the fans of the genre. (Action Fans Watch)
Best Part: Final fight.
Worst Part: It feels like it could end after the revenge scene.
Action Scene Of The Film: Final Fight.
Believability: No (0/10)
Chances of Tears: No (0/10)
Chances of Sequel: Unlikely
Post Credits Scene: No
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $30 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 32 Minutes
Tagline: Never bet against a man with a killer hand
Trivia: Remake of The Heat (1986)
Overall: This really is just another action film that can be enjoyed but won’t add too much to the genre in the long term.
Rating