For the past few years, the early months have graced audiences with the latest Jason Statham action vehicle. With films like The Beekeeper and A Working Man breaking the box office by grossing more than double their budgets worldwide, it shows that the world is not yet done with him. The latest film hoping to join Statham’s string of box office successes is Shelter, a redundant yet competently made action film.

The film follows Mason (Jason Statham), a retired assassin, as he rescues a young girl from drowning near the remote island where he resides. After his former organization discovers his whereabouts, he goes on the run to protect the girl, leading him to reckon with his past in the hope of a better future for himself and the girl.

Jason Statham’s movies, as of late, have all had the same premise: a retired soldier/assassin is forced out of hiding to take revenge on those who wronged him. Shelter once again falls under this trend, but this time to a detrimental degree. While one could find empathy in the film’s depiction of legacy and catharsis, Ward Parry’s script plays out in such an uninvolved, underdeveloped way that it never lets the emotional side take control. Jason Statham is three decades into his action-film career, and making a movie about his legacy could’ve made for a potent look at his filmography, but the film is instead too worried about delivering compelling action to allow any of its ideas to flesh out to the fullest extent.

Not only is the script surface-level at best, but Parry borrows entire plotlines from other, better films. In many ways, this is Statham’s John Wick. Not only do they both follow retired killers, but it finds them jumping back into the life of crime after the death of a loved one. There’s even a nightclub sequence in both films, in which they both play out extremely similarly. It’s one thing to have an uninspired story, but to blatantly copy other people’s work is a different kind of lazy.

Most of the film relies on the chemistry between Mason and the young girl, Jesse, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach. While the two don’t have horrific chemistry with one another, it is far from what it should’ve been. Breathnach matches Statham’s serious, brutish nature, but they failed to bring heart to the film, making for an experience where you don’t care if they both end up together or not. While the script plays a big part in the underdeveloped relationship between Mason and Jesse, the actors don’t do enough to elevate the material.

In any other case, a film with this script could end up on everyone’s worst-of-the-year list, but Jason Statham’s commitment to the action makes for an always-watchable experience. His subdued nature oozes charisma and badassery, and seeing him take down bad guys without breaking a sweat will never be unbearable. Being a producer on the film as well as the lead, it is clear that he has some level of care about the film, and that is seen through the entirety of his performance, whether or not he’s jamming a knife into someone’s throat.

Shelter marks Statham’s first collaboration with director Ric Roman Waugh, and they work wonders together. The way Waugh stages the action uses a nice blend of intimacy and grand scale, showcasing every stunt in full form. Having a background in martial arts, Jason Statham can perform excellent stunt work, but many of his recent films have failed to showcase his full talent by cutting the action into a series of clips. Shelter, however, understands Statham’s talent and stays in the action to create a more visceral, realistic experience that actually shows him performing the stunts. Although Statham has appeared in more than 50 films, his first collaboration with Ric Roman Waugh remains one of the best of his career as they both get the best out of each other.

The film is not solely Jason Statham punching and kicking his way out of situations. A sequence involving a group of assassins invading Mason’s island sees Statham use his environment in extremely creative ways. Whether it’s falling boulders or fishnets, seeing him turn his surroundings into deadly weapons made for an entertaining watch, making the film stand out among other movies in Statham’s filmography.

If Jason Statham was never an actor who interested you, there is nothing in Shelter that will convince you otherwise. It is far from a great film, but it spawns potential for a great actor/director pairing with Statham and Waugh. Despite having one of the worst screenplays of the year so far, seeing Statham and Waugh’s collaboration shows that they have the potential to do something great together in the future. If a good script ever comes their way, they could come up with something generational.

Shelter is now played in theaters nationwide.

OSCAR POTENTIAL:

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