Parker - If you've seen one Statham movie...

...then it's beginning to feel like you've seen them all. I like Statham's films and make a point to watch pretty much anything and everything he’s in.  His output doesn't try to be Oscar winning deep drama; they simply give you action, a few fight scenes and the odd car chase. You know what you're getting and he normally delivers.  However, I recently watched ‘Blitz’ and now ‘Parker’ in quick succession.  If you think that his formula repeats itself, then you should compare the two. ‘Blitz’ felt like a ‘made-for’TV’ movie, leaving ‘Parker’ to feel truly ‘epic’ (in comparison, anyway).

`Parker' follows the usual ‘Stath’ formula pretty closely. Statham + a doublecrosss = seeks revenge (fights and car chases included).  And this time he's practically more indestructible than he is in ‘Crank.’ You may have to suspend your disbelief on a regular basis to fully appreciate this film.  I know when we sit down to watch an ‘action’ film we hardly expect the lead to be killed off ten minutes in, but here it’s pretty obvious that no matter how much he gets beaten up, shot or left for dead, he’ll normally find a way of limping off and returning for vengeance (or just shooting people in the leg – he seems to like doing that here!).

Plus you have J-Lo thrown into the mix as a - sort of - love interest for him. Some people hate her being included and, although I'm not a fan, I have to say that I didn't find her character as annoying as I find her in real life. She plays the `feisty damsel' pretty well, i.e. someone who needs rescuing from time to time, but, at the same time, can hold her own in a room full of baddies.  Plus she doesn’t actually come into the film ‘proper’ until about fifty minutes in (this is probably the right time to mention that the film is nearly two hours long – quite long for your average puchy-shooty-car-chasey-type popcorn film.

Basically, if you've seen one of Statham's recent films, then you've sort of seen this. It's not as good as (the first two) ‘Transporter’ films, but it is better than some of his last ones (i.e. ‘Blitz’).  If you like his stuff, then you'll probably enjoy this. It's not a flop, but it's nothing too original either and just because he doesn’t get round to punching a giant shark, doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it if you’re in the mood.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that