I can't say because, of course, I haven't watched the others, or at least the great part of them. This is the 5th movie based on the Parker character created by Donald Westlake and although the first 2 had Marvin and Duvall playing the lead (the third one had Jim Brown!; the fourth I have yet to watch) this is the first one which renders justice to the spirit of the series. And Statham, though he may lack the screen presence of the first two, it fits perfectly in the no-frills approach the director and the the script writers have adopted toward the story. The movie is good from the very first shot to the last one; I had feared that JLo might be a minus and instead she adds to the final result (I have read all the series of 27 novels 3-4 years ago, but I can't seem to remember her character: if it was created from the screenplayer kudos to him). The criticisms I could levy toward the movie are very few but they are minor ones and all of them are anyway debatable. So this is 10/10. Visually I don't think this can be considered a neonoir or whatever you may want to call it, but as the story is, of course, noir as can be, I'll be waiting for Judge Cigar to settle the matter.
Made in U.S.A. (based on The Jugger) - Never seen it
Point Blank (based on The Hunter) - Its Ok not a fav -
Mise ? Sac [?Pillaged?] (based on The Score) - Never seen it
The Split (based on The Seventh) - Never seen it
The Outfit (based on The Outfit) - Seen it and didn't like it.
Slayground (based on Slayground) - Never seen it
Payback (based on The Hunter) - this one was the most Noir-ish for me. The film is not without controversy "although credited as director, Brian Helgeland's cut of the film was not the theatrical version released to audiences. After the end of principal photography, Helgeland's version was deemed too dark for the mainstream public. Following a script rewrite by Terry Hayes, director Helgeland was replaced by the production designer John Myhre, who reshot 30% of the film. The intent was to make the Porter character accessible. The film's tagline became: "Get Ready to Root for the Bad Guy." A potentially controversial scene which arguably involves spousal abuse was excised and more plot elements were added to the third act. After 10 days of re-shoots, a new opening scene and voiceover track also were added, and Kris Kristofferson walked on as a new villain." (Wikipedia)
I've seen both versions. The best film version in my opinion would be roughly, the theatrical release with the narration and blue tint up to the killing of Carter (exorcising most of the Lucy Liu/Tong revenge angle) then go with the director's cut (but keeping the blue tint) to the ambiguous end. I'd keep the beating also.
Parker (based on Flashfire) - Never seen it
