Statham’s solid January streak continues in Shelter

Jason Statham’s career has had a fascinating trajectory. In his youth he appeared in several music videos, was a model for Tommy Hilfiger, and was so skilled at selling bootleg items on the street that young director Guy Ritchie cast him to do exactly that in what would be the debut film for both, Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels. In the years that followed, they collaborated again with Snatch, another crime-comedy, as Statham took on smaller roles in American action movies like Jet Li sci-fi vehicle The One and John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars (thankless roles compared to his work with Ritchie). In 2002, Hong Kong director Corey Yuen made a rare English-language movie for producer Luc Besson called The Transporter, a high-octane martial arts extravaganza, and it showed that Statham was more than just a quick wit and a shiny head; he was an ass-kicking machine with some serious skills. 

In the years since, Statham has worked with legends of the genre past and present in franchises like The Expendables and The Fast and the Furious, occasionally returned to his comedic roots to steal the show in movies like Spy, and worked again with Guy Ritchie in underappreciated fare like Wrath of Man and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. He’s been a villain, he’s been a hero, he’s fought everything from man to shark, and over the last quarter century, he’s proven himself to be one of the last of a dying breed: A strong action star who always delivers, regardless of his project’s varying levels of quality. While other action stars have aged out or moved on to churning out direct-to-video/streaming titles when they should probably just pack it in (looking at you, Seagal), Statham has consistently headlined satisfying action movies that get theatrical play, finding ways to expand his skillset as an actor while staying within the lines of what he knows works best for him.

His newest release, director Ric Roman Waugh’s Shelter, is the latest in Statham’s workmanlike, dependable output. Nobody is looking to rewrite the rules of cinema here, but they have a story to tell, some stuntmen to wreck, and a release date to hit, all done here with commendable skill. 

Statham is Michael Mason, a mysterious recluse living on a secluded Scottish island with a decommissioned lighthouse. A friend of his braves the dangerous waters of the island with his young daughter Jessica (Bodhi Rae Breathnatch) to regularly deliver Mason supplies until one day his vessel capsizes, leaving him trapped in a watery grave. Mason launches into the water to save Jessica, whose foot is broken and infected, and begrudgingly makes a trip inland to get medical supplies after refusing to call authorities to retrieve the young girl—clearly a man with a history a child doesn’t need to know. Unfortunately, a security camera catches a glimpse of him.

Concurrently, the always great Bill Nighy appears as an MI6 director who has to vacate his position in the wake of activating an invasive government surveillance program that essentially gives him access to every security camera in the country, complete with automatic facial recognition software that activates on any person unlucky enough to be in the line of sight. He clearly has history with Mason, and now that Mason has been spotted even for a moment, he can be tracked all the way back to his island, setting in action the first of several hit squads (members of a program called Black Kite) that are to eliminate him at all costs. Mason knows that mere association makes Jessica a loose end to this crew, and he springs into action taking out every goon unlucky enough to cross him so that he can get this young girl to safety and stop the Black Kite crew that, of course, he was once a part of until he disobeyed an order and went rogue.

Statham’s incredible martial artistry continues to impress, and he’s aided by strong direction across the board. The action sequences are skillfully filmed and edited well, letting our hero set the pace with lightning-fast moves rather than overedited shaky-cam, the kiss of death for many in this genre. While the plot doesn’t introduce any elements we haven’t seen before, director Waugh (a former stuntman, often the best kind of director for action pictures) takes Ward Parry’s capable script and lets it breathe in all the right places. Waugh’s 2008 film Felon, a gritty and overlooked prison drama with a great late-era Val Kilmer performance, proved his skill with directing intense human drama, and surprisingly, that’s where Shelter shines best. 

At its heart, this is a tale of an older man protecting a young girl, and that connection shines. Statham doesn’t quite get out of his comfort zone here, but he allows himself just enough tenderness to let young Breathnatch, fresh off Oscar contender Hamnet, carry the emotional weight of the movie and hold her own against a larger-than-life action star. Statham dropping boulders on mercenaries like a British Wile E. Coyote is worth the price of entry, but this stands above less impactful entries in the Statham canon like War and Parker thanks to Waugh directing a dramatically-inclined movie with great action, and not a movie simply made to showcase action itself. The only place where it truly misses is that the climax feels a bit abrupt, but at the same time that allows the movie to end where it wants instead of filling in every bit of information we could want at the end. Michael Mason maintains his air of mystery by the end, but his character speaks for itself.

The success of films like Man on Fire and Logan have proven that “tough guy protects a young girl” can be a recipe for major success, and like those movies, Shelter works best when the unstoppable killing machine takes a moment to show a little tenderness, a dad movie with some heart. Statham’s solid January streak continues for a third year. Waugh proves that he’s got the skills, and with the right script he could make a leap into greatness. But most unexpectedly, Breathnatch is the rare child actor that truly impresses, one to keep an eye on in the years to come. If you’re into the kind of old-school, mid-budget genre action that rarely graces theaters these days, it’s worth your time. If nothing else, dads everywhere will love it.

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