Photo via IMDb
Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
The annual Jason Statham one-person army action flick has arrived in cinemas, and like last year’s “A Working Man,” it leaves a lot to be desired. “Shelter” is the name of this latest installment and Statham plays the same character he plays in almost every one of these films. While there is a sense of comfort in that, it means the story and direction have to be on point to bring something new and worthwhile to the table, and they are simply not up to the task.
Living life as a recluse on a remote Scottish island is Michael Mason (Jason Statham), who never leaves the island. When a freak storm sinks the boat that regularly provides him supplies, he rescues a young girl named Jesse (Bodhi Rae Breathnach), forcing him out of seclusion. His face is immediately recognized on camera and his past as a government assassin catches up to him. As his former boss Manafort (Bill Nighy) sends out a kill order on him and the girl, Mason must bring his skills to bear to keep Jesse safe at all costs.
Director Ric Roman Waugh, who almost exclusively casts Gerard Butler in his films, shakes it up a bit by working with another popular action star in Jason Statham. However, the results remain the same because his lack of attention to detail fails to improve with his latest effort. As he did just last month with “Greenland 2: Migration,” Ric overlooks or simply ignores common logic in order to make the plot points fit. A perfect example of this is having the scrawny little girl row a boat by herself across choppy seas as if she could possibly have the upper body strength to successfully get to shore. Or this same little girl suffering a gruesome ankle injury that gets infected, only to experience an immediate immaculate recovery the next scene, able to run without so much as a limp. There are an assortment of these errors and logic issues throughout the production, proving once again that this is a very sloppy filmmaker.
There are a few action scenes Waugh produces that hold the audience’s attention. The car chase scene in the Scottish countryside is well shot and provides that much needed shot of adrenaline. Most of the fight sequences were chaotically basic, besides the two one-on-one fights between Statham and Bryan Vigier. Those are well-choreographed brawls that provide some excitement. Unfortunately, Waugh takes way too much time to get to these moments, creating severe slow pacing issues in the first half of the film. By the time the real action begins, half the audience is either asleep or checked out.
Waugh does seem to understand the importance of connecting the story on an emotional level with the audience, but once again he overdoes it, turning it into a cloying attempt. The number of times he focuses on Statham saying how he has to keep the girl safe becomes nauseating. We get it, her safety is the most important thing, but this isn’t a radio ad where the same thing is said multiple times to drill it into listeners’ skulls. Waugh basically tries to mimic the emotional, action-oriented storyline that made “Man on Fire” successful, but without the likes of Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, it falls completely flat.
When it comes to Jason Statham, he plays the same role in virtually every movie, so viewers know exactly what to expect from his films. He puts on the same quiet, tough guy demeanor with a perpetual pissed-off look on his face only to reveal that he’s actually a protective teddy bear underneath. Granted, he’s carved out a very successful career doing this, and it’s usually a fun time watching him explode into justified action, but he struggles adding any significant depth to his characters, making them all one unmemorable entity.
For Bodhi Rae Breathnach, this is only her second feature film, her first coming in the Oscar nominated “Hamnet” just a few months ago. The young actress shows off some spunkiness and displays believable fear with this character, but the dialogue writing is completely off the mark for her character. It’s written as if she’s an adult with lines a young teenager would never say, diminishing the value of her performance.
As a simple, straightforward action movie, its numerous deficiencies keep it from scratching that itch, leading to disappointment and forgettability. “Shelter” is much too dilapidated to house even the staunchest of Jason Statham fans. Better to simply rewatch one of his previous films of higher entertainment value like “The Beekeeper” or “The Mechanic.”
This movie earns:
