Wild Card (2015)
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| nypost.com |
Writers: William Goldman (screenplay, novel)
Cast: Jason Statham (Nick Wild), Michael Angarano (Cyrus Kinnick), Dominik Garcia-Lorido (Holly), Hope Davis (Cassandra), MiloVentimiglia (Danny), Max Casella (Osgood), Stanley Tucci (Baby), Jason Alexander (Pinky), Sofia Vergara (DD), Anne Heche (Roxy), Francois Vincentelli (Benny), Chris Browning (Tiel), Matthew Willig (Kinlaw), and Davenia McFadden (Millicent).
There is a list of films i could've used for action, but this time around i wanted a recent one, and a well known action star, Jason Statham is that guy, he did movies like Homefront, Redemption, Safe, Parker, and Blitz to name some. This star is established as a huge action star, packed with a lot of kicks, punches, fists a cuffs. Wild Card is just one of those films, and with Simon West at the helm, it was a combination of both action and story. Hope you guys enjoy the review, here we go, Wild Card.
The scenes were shot up close and personal, with slow motion with every cut in the film making. Not a big fan of this style, but for some reason this film's action scenes were shot to perfection. Smooth editing, not choppy like Taken 3, which was too fast to understand what was going on. Wild Card did the opposite, it shot it's scenes carefully, the action Statham was in were done well, all the cuts were smooth and visually stunning. Like i said, not a big fan of close up action, but in the case for this film, it was done with taste. Simon West has a unique quality about his film making, so i guess it's important that every shot means something, and it did, i guess that's the reason he so good. Before i go to the next point of my review, i would like to give huge props to Simon West, his direction and knowledge made this film rise above it all. The film only had three action sequences, all were done smooth, the action was perfect, i loved after the major fight scenes the film just moved on. Sometimes the action is misplaced, these scenes were not; and to me misplaced action kills the film.
Nick Wild (Jason Statham) works as a bodyguard, his office is small but, when hired he does what he knows, protect people. A small, very wealthy guy wants protection, so he goes to see Wild, which Wild pretty much after a lot of dialog, back and forth, tells him no. Via reputation, Wild really wants out of his life style, so he tells a potential customer no, understandably so, because retirement is on a boat, sailing away his problems, and his unfortunate gambling issues. Love that part of the plot, a decent story, the character knows what he must do, determined to somehow continue on the path that he has chosen, knowing that his life will one day crash and everybody he knows and loves will die in the process. Wild seems calm, almost to calm unless he hits the tables at the casinos. Yes, our hero has a gambling problem, and the guy who wants him to bodyguard wants him in a casino, watching. Someone who has a gambling problem in a casino watching his client, not a good idea, but in some cases Nick will make do. His friend Holly was raped, beaten, and the thugs are up on the high rise, living the life. So Nick takes out the thugs, using his skills, great action scenes, it's confined, but everything comes together. The story is established, along with the action, it's controlled; Nick doesn't go guns a blaze, he comes across as a nice guy, wanting some answers.
The huge casting made this film as well, although this is not the Expendables, and to have a large cast with high profile actors with only a couple of lines can be cool but in the case for Wild Card, the director is lucky it worked, because depending on the scene it may come across as B-movie like. The film did accomplish the every action scenes, not every action film can do it like the Wild Card. The high profile actors added in the story can be a problem, Either it works or it bombs in the box office, and that is what the movie producers do not want. Success, and box office hit is all part of the big picture. Unfortunately the audiences around the world thought this film was bad. 30,000,000 was the estimated budget, 3,200 at the box office, world wide was about 682,103. DVD sales were about 3,021,084. Wild Card was not very Wild, it bombed.
After i described the numbers, lets go into why? it bombed, which i disagree with the audiences, but remember, movies are all about the people. You could have the best production team, and if the audiences hate the film, it will not make you money. An example of this is the 1994 Crow film, RIP Brandon Lee. The Crow was a huge success, afterwards typical Hollywood filmed a sequel, it wanted another Crow film, and what they got was a big mess. The sequels were all bad, they bombed in the box office, why? because the voice of fans were louder than the film makers, even with the huge protest, the Hollywood film producers continued to make films, which all died in the box office. I guess the film makers never learned because a new movie is in production, coming soon with a 40,000,000 budget. It's not the budget, or the box office, it's the story and the respect that the film makers failed to give. An up and coming actor, Brandon Lee, son of the late Bruce Lee and Linda Lee Cadwell and brother of Shannon Lee. He died on set, a horrible accident and the film makers did not respect his death so instead they thought of the all mighty dollar, which again the audiences from all over were heard, all sequels bombed at the box office.
The main reason Wild Card died in the box office, was because of the time it came out. Project Almanac, and Black or White was out. Like i said it depends whats happening at the movies, the film makers thought there little action movie could break Kevin Costner and a time based film, the Almanac. With that being said the film flopped, and the reasoning wasn't the movie, it was the bad timing at the box office. Sometimes movies that crash or burn, as time goes by, it becomes a hit, an underground cult classic of a sort. Wild Card was entertaining, it's action moved, never boring, as an action film it filled my appetite as a good film should. Film reviewing is all about opinion, and what the people think about the film, the media, or whomever called this film a bomb, i highly disagree, it's an action film, it did what a good film was supposed to do, entertain. You get action, a hero with a slew of problems, a guy with gambling problems and on top of that Nick Wild had to help Holly, knowing it would start issues with the mob. The film altogether is great, the action and acting was good, remember it's an action film not a Lifetime movie. The film as a whole did the job, some critics are picky, overseeing the entertainment value, anyway, don't like Wild Card, try more of Simon West films, The Expendables 2 (2012), Con Air (1997), Tomb Raider (2001), The Mechanic (2011), The Cape (2010).
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