Over the past year Jason Statham has been really growing on me as an actor. But judging from the box-office failures of both The Last Stand and Bullet to the Head (two films I thoroughly enjoyed), I can't really see Parker doing much better.

Eastern Daily Press: Jack Bool film bloggerJack Bool film blogger (Image: Archant)

Which is unfortunate as it has become rather apparent that Jason Statham wants to become the big name of what you could now call a dying genre, and upon watching Parker it's kind of obvious why films like this are not printing extraordinary amounts of box-office receipts.

Now before I start this review I would just like to point out that I am not a fan of the Parker novels. In fact before this film came out I was completely unaware that they existed and finally I would also like to point out that I have not seen any of Parker's other transitions to the big screen, but seeing as this is not in any way attached to the previous films I didn't really see the need to check out the characters back catalogue.

The basic premise of Parker is that the character is a thief with a unique code of professional ethics, however one day he is double crossed by his crew and left for dead. Upon assuming a new disguise and forming an unlikely alliance with a woman on the inside, (Jennifer Lopez) he looks to hijack the score of the crews latest heist.

From the off I thought that I would enjoy Parker. To begin with it seemed like my type of film, however as you can most probably expect after a promising start the film slowly begins to run out of steam and by the end it became rather apparent that it had definitely run its due course. Admittedly if it was twenty minutes shorter it would have been better, but then again when thinking about it, I didn't think that would make much of a difference as the film is simply dull.

Sure there were a couple of things that I liked about Parker but it's safe to say the negatives most certainly out way the positives. For instance the film has absolutely beautiful scenery and the character of Parker was certainly one of the more interesting characters I have seen Statham portray in recent years (minus the dodgy Texan accent he occasionally uses now and again), unfortunately as an action film it's more interested in taking itself seriously and occasionally at times it felt more like a thriller. The reason I say that is simply because there really isn't that much action present throughout the duration of the movie. Personally I think if there was more action present, this film would have been a lot more enjoyable as the two or three fight scenes the film has are all expertly filmed and very well-choreographed, unfortunately as I previously stated there just aren't enough of them.

If I had to sum this movie up in one word it would probably be generic, the film mostly falls flat due to the weak, predictable storyline and the unimpressive villains and upon sitting through almost two hours of what I would call boredom it comes to a very unrewarding climax.

Not that I have anything against Jennifer Lopez as an actress but was her input really necessary in this movie. If like me you've seen the trailer then you'll obviously be aware of the wire scene, and upon watching the film I couldn't help but feel that was the only reason she was signed up, sure I understand that may sound incredibly harsh but I just didn't really care for her character even if she did put in a decent shift.

Overall Parker is a lifeless, predictable movie that features a solid performance from Jason Statham, but apart from that, it isn't really worth your time or the price of admission.

PARKER (15)

Director: Taylor Hackford

Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Michael Chiklis, Clifton Collins Jr, Wendell Pierce, Micah A Hauptman, Nick Nolte, Emma Booth.

Length: 118 min

**