Jackpot!
review by Bobby Blakey
Both John Cena and Awkwafina have been on a role lately with films in action, comedy and some even blended among others. Now the two are teaming up with Bridesmaids, Spy and Ghostbusters director Paul Feig for the new action-comedy Jackpot! co-starring Ayden Mayeri, Donald Elise Watkins, Sam Asghari, Murray Hill and Simu Liu. Could this film deliver the action and comedy it promises, or will it be a lottery not worth playing?
Jackpot! follows a ‘Grand Lottery’ in the near future that has been newly established in California - the catch: kill the winner before sundown to legally claim their multi-billion-dollar jackpot. When Katie Kim moves to Los Angeles, she mistakenly finds herself with the winning ticket. Desperate to survive the hordes of jackpot hunters, she reluctantly joins forces with amateur lottery protection agent Noel Cassidy who will do everything in his power to get her to sundown in exchange for a piece of her prize. However, Noel must face off with his slick rival Louis Lewis, who also seeks to collect Katie’s commission at all costs.
With the idea of the purge blending into a lottery themed action comedy it seems like a slam dunk. The trailer was funny enough, but the poster felt a bit cheesy so was a bit concerned on what finished product Feig was going to give us. I dived in with some hopes for those action and laughs and I am happy to say that I was not disappointed. The film is silly, ridiculous and an all-around good time.
This film isn’t breaking down the walls of any genre and knows exactly what it is and lens into it. Couple this with the fun dup of Awkwafina and Cena and you have a hell of a fun and often times hilarious film. It has its misses in the jokes at times, but I found myself laughing out loud numerous times with their banter and over the top
antics. The story is all over the place in context of getting through the day and is just setting up the next action or wacked out situation they end up in and I am here for it.
The action pulls no punches, bringing some great and creative fight choreography for everyone to be involved in that is both excellent in its violence, but often hilarious to watch. I thought it might be fun but expected it to be more stupid than anything and while that is there it just works. It might not be one that would have between worth checking out on the big screen, but the streaming format is perfect for you to just chill out and have some fun.
The last act gets a bit clunky, but still makes for some fun finale action pieces that entertained. The end credits offered up some fun old school bloopers and the end credit scene even doubled as a fun promo for the lottery as well as a possible sequel should they decide to do one.
I had a great time with this one and would gladly watch it again and with it no streaming exclusively on Prime Video I can do just that. Decide for yourself and check out Jackpot! streaming now from Amazon MGM Studios.