Shelter

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Shelter
Starring Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie
Directed by Ric Roman Waugh

Every year has events that you know are coming - your birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the Super Bowl, and a Jason Statham-led action film that teeters the line of being decent and dull. 2023's "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre" was forgettable. 2024's "The Beekeeper" was one of his better outings and has earned a sequel for 2027. Last year's "A Working Man" falls somewhere in-between. "Shelter," sadly, is the worst of these middle-of-the-road films, a movie that relies heavily on tropes that it doesn't have a chance to form a cohesive story.

Michael Mason (Jason Statham) is a former government assassin living a peaceful, lonely life with his dog at an abandoned lighthouse, and is only visited by young Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) and her uncle to deliver supplies, but he never speaks to them. One day Jessie confronts him on being so rude when a storm hits and her uncle dies, leaving Michael to take care of Jessie since her mother passed away and she never knew her father. Going into the city for the first time he's spotted on a surveillance system known as T.H.E.A. run by Mason's corrupt former handler Manafort (Bill Nighy) who releases an assassin to take care of him. On the run with Jessie, Michael must not only kill the men chasing him, but also protect young Jessie in the process.

To say this is cliche-ridden is basically all the review of the movie you need. Former assassin goes into hiding because he doesn't want to kill anymore is forcibly brought out of retirement to kill again to protect a young girl when he doesn't really care about the greater good other than protecting her. One semi-epic action sequence, followed by dumps of dialogue and exposition before going into the next fight and the next dialogue-ridden section, with the final battle and final confrontation where the good guy wins. Everyone gets a participation trophy and you have a film that is so devoid of excitement I found myself nodding off a few times - the last time I woke up and they were in this club with guns shooting and almost everyone else in the club was just standing around like they were on a thirty second time delay before they all freaked out and started running. 

Jason Statham is fine as he sleepwalks through his performance, looking about as bored as the audience was watching him. Bodhi Rae Breathnach is a revelation as Jessie, the best part of the film but also given very little to do, and God knows why the likes of Bill Nighy and Naomi Ackie decided to do this project other than getting a simple paycheck since all they do is sit in their offices, look at computer screens and expunge dialogue. There's nothing inherently bad about this movie, it's just completely forgettable, boring, and lacking any excitement you'd expect in a Statham vehicle.

The Score: C-

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