Play Dirty (Shane Black, 2025)

After his crew is murdered and his money stolen by a traitor Zen (Rosa Salazar), thief Parker (Mark Wahlberg) is out for vengeance.

After tracking Zen down, Parker finds himself tied up in a conspiracy involving conquistador gold, a corrupt dictator and his old enemy, the Outfit.

My knowledge of Richard Stark's Parker novels is non-existent. As far as the innumerable cinematic adaptations, I watched this movie and Point Blank (1967) a few weeks later.

This movie is closer to a traditional pulp thriller - our hero comes in with no backstory or real internal conflict. Parker always knows where he is at - right up to the shocking but inevitable finale. 

As far as Black protagonists go, he is a change of pace. He lacks the self-doubt you typically see. The greatest surprise of his character is that he expresses no doubts. He is in-wavering in following his code.

Wahlberg is naturally at his best when the character has something to prove. He makes sense as casting for a Shane Black movie - one could see him play something akin to Robert Downey Jr’s flaying PI in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

I was sceptical but he is solid as Parker.

What helps is that the movie is more of an ensemble piece, and the rest of the cast are stellar.

Lakeith Stansfield is great as Parker’s partner (and would-be thespian) Grofield. 

Alita herself, Zoe Salazar, is good as Zen, Parker’s nemesis/partner. The most interesting aspect of the movie is the tension underpinning their dynamic.

The film features a lot of the familiar back and forth, and there are one or two amusing reversals (including a gloriously violent double tap) that spin the story into more complicated territory.

  

The one bummer of the movie is that it does not look great. 

Philippe Rousselot’s photography is fine, but when the action set pieces get going, they are filled with sludgy, poorly rendered computer-generated elements.

The train and car chases reminded me of Gareth Evans’ Havoc, with a lot of CGI rendering the action rubbery and lacking tactility or stakes.

The scale of the movie is also far broader than Black’s previous work, and as the action expands, it starts to feel like the film is losing the intimacy and specificity that is unique to his work. 

This is the first Shane Black movie outside of Iron Man 3 that feels like a proper action movie. His other movies are smaller but propulsive, and when the action beats play out, they carry a greater sense of stakes because we are emotionally invested in the characters’ story.

If you are expecting The Nice Guys, this is not it. But it is a massive rebound from The Predator.

Related

The Last Boy Scout

The Nice Guys

The Predator

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