By George & Josh Bate
With 26 action movies released in the last 15 minutes, Jason Statham has established himself as a household name in the genre. At this point, after two Mechanic movies, two The Meg movies, four Expendables movies, six Fast and Furious movies, a sequel to The Beekeeper on the way, audiences have come to know what to expect from a Statham action flick. There’s Statham’s stoic, gravely voiced, hardened lead, often a nice guy who is brought back into a world of violence due to unfortunate circumstances. There’s decent action set-pieces, all of which Statham is admirably committed to execute. There’s forgettable side characters and even more forgettable plots. And, while there’s been some fluctuation in the quality of his recent efforts (e.g., Wrath of Man puts The Beekeeper and A Working Man to shame), all of the movies have started to blend into one.
Enter Shelter, Statham’s latest action flick that attempts to break the mold of a monotonous track record. From director Ric Roman Waugh (Greenland, Angel Has Fallen), the film stars Statham as Michael Mason, an ex-Special Forces soldier who rescues a young girl named Jessie (Hamnet’s Bodhi Rae Breathnach) from a deadly storm. The fateful decision forces the reclusive Mason out of isolation and exposes him to enemies from his past intent on killing him and the girl he grows increasingly close to.
If the synopsis of Shelter seems vaguely familiar, that’s because it mirrors half a dozen other Jason Statham movies. At best, his latest film is a routine and minimally entertaining action flick. At worst, it feels like the result of putting every Jason Statham movie of the last 15 years into an AI and asking it to generate a Jason Statham movie. Shockingly, there is not a single element of the film – whether it be action choreography, character work, emotional core, setting, or style – that possesses a semblance of novelty. With a reputation for solid action movies, director Ric Roman Waugh helms the film competently and a tight script from Ward Perry ensures that the film never devolves into unnecessarily convoluted territory. That being said, competing directing and coherent storytelling are the bare minimum a film like Shelter should achieve.
The film takes its time to get going with an overly long first act. Jason Statham’s Michael Mason is introduced to the audience as a quiet, troubled man living alone on a small, remote island. He takes care of his dog, receives supplies, sleeps, and does little else. While the purpose of this first act is clear in that it establishes Statham’s character as a mysterious and stoic recluse, it greatly overstays its welcome and renders a potentially exciting action thriller sluggish from the get-go.
When the action eventually kicks into gear, Shelter admittedly improves, albeit marginally so. Waugh is no stranger to modern action fare, having helmed Angel Has Fallen, Kandahar, and two Greenland movies in recent years, and flexes these muscles sporadically throughout an engaging film. A car chase along a bumpy road in Scotland stands out as a particularly compelling action sequence. The hand-to-hand combat, while not breaking any new ground, packs a punch (pun intended) on occasion and checks the necessary boxes this flavor of action movie typically checks.
It’s the primary issue with Shelter, however, that the film is burdened by mediocrity. Like its action, the story and its characters are far from disastrous, but they lack even the slightest bit of uniqueness to make the film stand out from countless, similar other outings. Even a strong child performance from Hamnet’s Bodhi Rae Breathnach can’t add enough emotion to a Lone Wolf and Cub-esque story with an embedded heart ready to be capitalized on.
As the film progresses, investment in its story and characters slowly decline before culminating in an underwhelming finale. The resolution isn’t inherently flawed in conception, but a lackluster preceding film means any degree of a satisfying conclusion is a far reach.
VERDICT: 4/10
With 26 action movies released in the last 15 minutes, Jason Statham has established himself as a household name in the genre and audiences have come to know what to expect when the bald, gravely-voiced Englishman headlines a film. While competently directing and bolstering a cohesive narrative, Statham’s latest action endeavor Shelter astonishingly lacks even a semblance of novelty. From its action sequences to directing style to performances to character to story, every element of director Ric Roman Waugh’s movie is indistinguishable from countless other movies, many of which also starred Statham. A sluggish start means the film takes a while to kick into gear, after which engagement markedly improves. Unfortunately though, Shelter continues to be burdened by mediocrity to the very end, despite a committed performance from Hamnet actress Bodhi Rae Breathnach. At best, Shelter is a routine and minimally entertaining action flick. But at worst, Shelter feels like the result of putting every Jason Statham movie of the last 15 years into an AI and asking it to auto-generate a Jason Statham movie. Here’s the hoping the action movie veteran seeks more inventive and subversive projects that will allow him to break out of this monotonous mold.