Bullet Points: Wild Card
There is a lot of Statham love going around right now so I thought to myself, “what better time to break out the Wild Card!” I picked up the movie because the cover looked to have Jason Statham jump-attacking someone with kitchen utensils. There were too many questions for me not to buy this one.
Synopsis: Nick Wild (Jason Statham) is a Las Vegas bodyguard with lethal professional skills and a personal gambling problem. When a friend is beaten by a sadistic thug, Nick strikes back, only to find out the thug is the son of a powerful mob boss. Suddenly Nick is plunged into the criminal underworld, chased by enforcers and wanted by the mob. Having raised the stakes, Nick has one last play to change his fortunes…and this time, it’s all or nothing.
- Wild: Statham plays Nick Wild, a Las Vegas resident who performs random jobs for money. He’s not a handyman or a day laborer. His background is similar to a million other action characters; martial artist, special forces, and supreme badass. Nick also doesn’t use guns, which adds to his mysteriousness and leaves you waiting for the scene later in the movie where he would have to make the decision on whether or not to finally pick one up to save his life.
- Sofia: The Modern Family star Sofia Vergara makes an appearance early in the movie looking amazing. So good that even Statham had to do a double take. While you might think that she’ll return later in the movie or possibly even play the love interest to Statham, she is only in the first few minutes of the film and the scene only works to set up Statham’s character and not prepare us for more Vergara goodness.
- His boo: Jason is called on by his ex Holly. She was partying with the wrong crowd and got beaten and raped for it. TV guy Milo Ventimiglia is introduced as the horrible mobster punk Danny DeMarco. It was him and his goons who roughed up Holly and is about to incur the wrath of Statham.
- Patience: I’m normally a very patient person but Wild Card takes quite a long time to get to the real action. For a movie that is only 92 minutes, it takes around 30 minutes before we get a taste of good Statham action. When Statham finally does go to Danny DeMarco’s fancy room you’re sure to enjoy the really cool looking slow motion scene which is equal parts brutal and innovative.
- Milo: Maybe it’s just me but I just can’t accept Milo Ventimiglia as some tough guy ordering and threatening people. It could be that I’ve seen far too many Gilmore Girls episodes with him in it or it could just be that he looks too much like a puny little wimp. Sorry Milo, you just don’t do it for me.
- A lucky streak: Despite his newest confrontations with the mob, Nick Wild tries his luck at the blackjack table and realizes that , HOLY CRAP, he can’t lose! It’s every gamblers dream. But like every other gambling addict, Nick doesn’t know when to stop and eventually finds himself back to 0 with more mobsters poking around his direction. It’s a cool couple of scenes that also introduces us to Stanley Tucci’s character, Baby. He’s like the big-time casino boss of the entire city and he can’t let Nick’s recent run-in with DeMarco go unnoticed.
- Can I have my coffee first: It finally comes down to Wild versus DeMarco. Or at least Wild versus DeMarco and all his pals. I also get my payoff from the DVD cover featuring Statham fighting people with a spoon! The final sequence is cool as hell. Statham’s character is absolutely fed up with DeMarco at this point and has gone through enough in the movie that he is prepared to go all the way to finish this whole ordeal. At some point in the movie, Statham’s ex Holly steps aside as the target for DeMarco and Milo and his boys are determined to get Wild instead. It means that this final action scene is extra brutal.
The Verdict: Wild Card definitely had its moments. I almost always enjoy Statham in his movies since he generally plays the same character in all of them. He’s as close to an 80’s action guy as we’ll get these days. There is more mystery to his character in Wild Card than is necessary and it feels like it causes the movie to lose focus at times. It isn’t until Nick’s run-in with Ventimiglia’s goons that the film decides where to put its attention. For a simple action movie there are just too many characters being introduced. His friends slide into scenes and then never show up again, a potential client played by Michael Angarano eats up a lot of time, and Nick’s maybe relationship with Hope Davis. The action in the film is fantastic, though. Director Simon West really knows how to do a fight scene and Wild Card has three really good ones to show. The movie won’t change your life or anything but it’s a fun 90 minutes to spend with Jason Statham not fighting a massive shark.
