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Parker

Starring: Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, and Michael Chiklis
Directed by: Taylor Hackford
Screenplay by: John J. McLaughlin

Jason Statham is back, and you know what that means...
     Parker (Jason Statham) is a thief part of a team looking to cash in on a massive prize.  He's double crossed by the rest of the crew and left for dead.  If they say they're going to kill him, they should follow through with it because if they don't, Parker's going to make them regret not doing so.  With the help of a Palm Beach, Florida real estate agent, Leslie Rodgers (Jennifer Lopez), Parker has a chance at getting back at the guys who tried to kill him and get that massive prize.  Watch out Palm Beach, because some crazy action is coming to you.
     It's a Jason Statham movie.  It's another movie filled with lots of ass-kicking action, but surprisingly, there's not as much in this film as one would expect based on Statham's other films like Crank or The Expendables.  This film is more focused on the story being told and cuts down on the action quite some bit, which I think makes for a better movie.  My complaints about other films he's been in is that there's too much emphasis on the action and not enough on the story.  Parker is the opposite.
     He and Jennifer Lopez do not make a very good screen couple.  We see that her character has a very strong liking toward his character even though Parker has a girlfriend.  I get that he's not into her because he has a girlfriend, but there's this completely out of the blue kiss between Statham and Lopez that makes absolutely no sense to me.  It just seems like it's another one of those aspects of a movie that has to be in there simply because the studio thinks it's going to draw people to the theater to see it.
      People like me are going to see this movie not because of some love story that's only a small part of the overall picture.  They're going to see it because Jason Statham is a complete badass when it comes to movies that involve lots of action.  He's great at kicking everyone's ass!!!
      Overall, the story's fine.  There's no plot holes or major twists that confuse us, but it's not original.  We see this kind of story so many times and frankly, it's getting a little annoying that the only things that are changing each time a movie like this is made are the characters, the setting, and the heist situations.  So, if you've seen all the movies that are going to win all the awards and you're looking for some mindless entertainment, Parker is the movie for you, and it's probably the bes thing out right now that's a film that won't win any awards.
I give Parker a B.

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