Wild Card
(aka Heat, Joker)
2015; directed by Simon West

As your friendly neighborhood reviewer tends to be a fan of most things revolving around the center of debauchery better known as Las Vegas and everyone's favorite follically-challenged action hero Jason Statham, Wild Card seemed to have a solid foundation for action movie greatness, especially with Hong Kong veteran film-maker Corey Yuen (who Statham collaborated with on the Transporter films) providing the action direction. So why does this film end up rolling snake eyes and crapping out?

The film is based on a novel by William Goldman named Heat, which was previously adapted for the screen in 1986 in a movie starring Burt Reynolds. The main character here is Nick Wild (Get it? He's the wild card!), a degenerate gambler who takes odd jobs to pay his debts. One of these jobs ends up making him run afoul of some of the local mob, and ,well, you can probably guess the rest. Director Simon West has some experience with filming in Las Vegas, though certainly his previous take on the city, Con Air, was certainly filled with more bombast, going so far as to having a plane crash land in the center of the world-famous strip. Here, the emphasis is more on dramatics, with the too-short Corey Yuen helmed fight scenes being the sole source of excitement.

Otherwise, West looks to be more than a bit lost. His filmography (which also includes Tomb Raider and The Expendables 2) clearly favors more action than deep dramatics, and the script, which Goldman adapted from his own novel, doesn't help matters, quickly becoming too convoluted for its' own good. You would think that even with a sub-par script, something could have been salvaged, given the star power attached to this project, which also includes Stanley Tucci, Jason Alexander, and Anne Heche.

But, sadly, it doesn't. Wild Card doesn't feel "wild" at all. There's lots of scenes of Staham brooding and attempting to espouse dialogue that is much less cool than it thinks it is. The occasional blasts of violence are more of a lame attempt at a wake-up call, rather than a sustained force, being the cinematic equivalent of a pit boss attempting to roust a weary patron who has imbibed on one too many "free" drinks dispensed by the cocktail waitresses.

RATING: 5