Film Review – Parker

Film: Director: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay:John McLaughlin
Cast: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Patti LuPone
Genre: Action
Rating: **
Venue: Ster Kinekor Maerua Mall Cine 1

A thief (Jason Statham) with a unique code of professional ethics is double-crossed by his crew and left for dead after a robbery. He then assumes a new identity and forms an unlikely alliance with a woman (Jennifer Lopez) who has ties to the crew. With her as link he schemes to hijack the crews latest heist.
First thing I feel five minutes into the movie is that I feel I have watched this movie before, well not literally but I feel I have. I am saying this because this is a typical Jason Statham movie. Yes, he has been cast in the same role and it’s not fun to watch. I’m not saying I did not enjoy watching one of my favorite action heroes take on the bad guys , just that the plots for his films have gotten old, drab and very thin. His films are no longer a pleasure to watch because his roles are always the same. Yes Parker (Statham) is the same bad ass guy whose only mission is to get the job done, drives expensive cars, has women swooning over him, is stubborn and is a die hard character just like in previous films: ‘Transporter’, ‘The Mechanic’.
Statham plays Parker in a very believable manner, well maybe it is because he is used to playing the same role over and over which makes him able to slip into this character so easily. Jennifer Lopez plays real estate agent Leslie, a woman living with her mother (Patti LuPone) after a divorce from her cheating husband. Leslie is crafty as she is clumsy. She helps Parker get back at his crew for the thrill and excitement, a relief from her boring job of showing expensive houses in Palm Beach to rich stuck-up clients. Jennifer Lopez is good as Leslie as this character too, is like other characters she has played before.
It is not as if this movie is completely unpalatable. It has a good start to it, the suspense in the first scenes of the movie is what saves the film. The acting is quite good, the bad guys are ruthless and feel they are kings and can live life beyond the law. What makes Parker terrible is that the main character’s role is nothing new. I feel a little romance between Lopez and Statham would have made Parker different from other Jason Statham films. It starts off fast, with a good element of suspense and intrigue then falls flat as a pancake twenty minutes into the film and becomes a drag to watch.
This piece of mediocrity may be an enjoyable film and is worth the attention only of fans of Statham or of those who love to see Jennifer Lopez strip down to her underwear. I couldn’t wait for it to end partly because I hoped to see a different style to the ending and because I wanted the film to end so badly. I got my ‘different style ending’ which is terrible and even more mediocre than the whole film. Parker is a disappointment, it is not a great movie. Parker should have been left parked in the minds of the writers and directors. It is nothing but a pure waste of time, expensive cars, punches and fake blood.