Good, but not Spenser.
As far as mystery/ detective action movies go this is a decent one.
Not the kind where you can solve it in advance and the plot is ultimately overly complicated and inconsequential but it is genuine fun watching it unfold.
I'd probably have given it a 7 if it wasn't for the false advertisement that I'd be getting to see Spenser and Hawk. These two aren't them.
Spenser and Hawk are meant to be two men who while physically intimidating are more dangerous due to their intelligence. A fight is their last resort, notable as they would win every fight.
There is not one single line of dialog to illustrate how educated these two are, if anything, the contrary.
And while the Private Eye who gets beat up all the time is a staple of the genre, it's not Spenser, who spends most of this movie getting knocked around. And while Wahlberg throws punches he never takes a fighter's stance even though he starred in The Fighter. Spenser is a boxer. He is so well trained as one that other fighting styles don't stand a chance because the fighters themselves lack Spenser's discipline in his chosen form.
I hope they paid the Parker estate double for this insult to his creations.
Hawk especially as the character as originally written could have been the hero these modern times need. No slam on this actor, he's got skills, and the fault is primarily the script, but he should have sat down with Avery Brooks, who likewise had to overcome script issues when he played the part but was still able to find the soul of the character. You knew it was there, even when it wasn't in the script.
Mark Wahlberg just plays Mark Wahlberg. It works here but he's the worst Spenser to play the part even if he's the most accomplished actor.
Alan Arkin is perfect. Marc Maron is enough fun that he should have had a bigger part.
Not the kind where you can solve it in advance and the plot is ultimately overly complicated and inconsequential but it is genuine fun watching it unfold.
I'd probably have given it a 7 if it wasn't for the false advertisement that I'd be getting to see Spenser and Hawk. These two aren't them.
Spenser and Hawk are meant to be two men who while physically intimidating are more dangerous due to their intelligence. A fight is their last resort, notable as they would win every fight.
There is not one single line of dialog to illustrate how educated these two are, if anything, the contrary.
And while the Private Eye who gets beat up all the time is a staple of the genre, it's not Spenser, who spends most of this movie getting knocked around. And while Wahlberg throws punches he never takes a fighter's stance even though he starred in The Fighter. Spenser is a boxer. He is so well trained as one that other fighting styles don't stand a chance because the fighters themselves lack Spenser's discipline in his chosen form.
I hope they paid the Parker estate double for this insult to his creations.
Hawk especially as the character as originally written could have been the hero these modern times need. No slam on this actor, he's got skills, and the fault is primarily the script, but he should have sat down with Avery Brooks, who likewise had to overcome script issues when he played the part but was still able to find the soul of the character. You knew it was there, even when it wasn't in the script.
Mark Wahlberg just plays Mark Wahlberg. It works here but he's the worst Spenser to play the part even if he's the most accomplished actor.
Alan Arkin is perfect. Marc Maron is enough fun that he should have had a bigger part.
- PJK
- Mar 9, 2020