Directed By Ric Roman Waugh
Starring – Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy
The Plot – Mason (Statham), A recluse on a remote Scottish island rescues Jessie (Breathnach) a shipwrecked girl from the sea, unleashing a perilous sequence of events that culminate in an attack on his home, compelling him to face his secretively turbulent history.
Rated R for violence and some adult language
POSITIVES
If it’s the bowels of January, that must mean it’s time for another Jason Statham movie, and while “Shelter” offers very little refreshing deviations in the expectations of an audience who know exactly what they’re getting into with one of the actor’s films, it does maintain the comforting reaffirmation of the satisfying elements that we’ve come to expect, beginning with some enthralling action in hand-to-hand combat, to get the pulses pumping. Jason might be almost 59-years-old, but his body is running on a clock of its own, and it’s one involving rapid velocity and rabid intensity to some smooth and cerebral-like fight choreography, making motions feel so effortless in the detectability of the limitless energy and vitriolic vengeance that the actor unloads on a variety of enemies, even if the occasional intrusiveness of the editing practices and handheld photography scatter away some of the transparency of the many blunt force blows. What helps override some of this unintentional obscuring is the intricacy of the sound design, containing not only a registering influence to the motions of the mayhem that bare all of the anatomical aftershocks, but also aggressive volume mixing that responsibly overwhelms its correspondence with David Buckley’s thumping techno terrain, during the climax, in turn crafting a symphony of devastation that goes a long towards satisfying the maniacal urges of an audience with their own thirst for bone-crunching brutality. Speaking of Statham, the British brutalizer is just as much an intimidating force of nature in screen presence as he was twenty years ago, with unrelenting resiliency during sequences evoking physicality, but also the subtle psychology that he continuously delivers to a character whose isolation from the outside world conjures underlining insights to depression and corresponding loneliness that motivate his impulses to be a savior to this orphaned girl. Because of such, Statham’s best moments are those shared with “Hamnet’s” Bodhi Rae Breathnach, involving a psychological unlocking to the character that so transparently urges for human insight and interaction in the depths of his increasing providing, even at the cost of his peaceful existence, and while Statham can effortlessly play this role in his sleep because he’s done it so many times throughout his career, it doesn’t take away the legitimacy and believability that he appraises as such a dominating presence to the screen, proving a great coalition with Ric Roman Waugh, whose work alongside Gerard Butler opens him effortlessly to Statham’s distinct brand of rapid-fire action. Waugh’s directional choices do leave a bit more to be desired within the depths of the overarching narrative, especially in the condemning choices of personality that he enacts to the approachability of the engagement, but he does exceptionally illustrate the cold and desolate essence of the story’s isolated setting, depicting Ireland as a faithful doubling to the Scottish isles that naturally inspire the damp color pallet of Martin Ahlgren’s scenically damp cinematography. This doesn’t necessarily make it a beautiful looking film, as the imagery plays more to the mood of the atmosphere rather than its cunning style and staged spectacle, but it does conjure a framing of mind to Mason’s mentality that makes Jessie feel like the proverbial light in a dark and withering away lifestyle, and one in which Waugh effectively conveys Mason, at least initially, to be a product of his environment, echoing the disconnected and disconcerting demeanor that he revels in, when we meet him at the start of the film.
NEGATIVES
While I do consider myself to be a die-hard Jason Statham apologist, that doesn’t mean that I don’t see how shamelessly derivative and uninspiring “Shelter” regretfully feels, especially in the confines of a lazy and lackadaisical script that follows a very distinct pattern of telegraphed movements from so many of Statham’s other movies. When you read the aforementioned plot, you could easily tie it to any number of the actor’s previous films on outline alone, but when you approach the film at face value, you’re unfortunately met with an overly serious demeanor that doesn’t seem to comprehend what kind of film it is, as well as a sluggishly lumbering opening act, which immediately defuses any of the excitement and anticipation for what’s to follow. While the meeting and rescuing of Jessie certainly helps to surmise the stakes and circumstances of the trouble that Mason has adopted to his life, the conflict with Mason’s peers in this secretive group doesn’t materialize until nearly forty minutes later in the film’s 102-minute duration, and considering it’s a plot device shrouded in mystery, nothing ever uncovered from this exploration feels shockingly stirring or self-aware to the expectations of the audience, keeping the film from ever truly indulging in the chaotic side of movies like “The Beekeeper” or “Crank”, which balanced frenetic fury with fantastical fun. This anemic ambiance carries over to the stilted characterization, which with over-explained stock dialogue and pursuit of Mason and Jessie’s growing relationship, asks the audience to care about their well-being, despite so little being revealed about either of them. For Mason, it’s the usual random special forces elective that you see in every Statham movie, and nothing more, yet for Jessie, it’s that she’s an orphan and apparently she’s very good at chess, though we only see a singular side of even that. That’s it. It makes the leads feel like supporting characters in a script that spends no time compellingly fleshing them out, and if not for the intensely charming Statham, I would be bored to tears by two characters as blandly illustrated as these. On top of this, the script does very little for the characters outside of Mason, which not only condemns so many of the supporting performances from this stacked ensemble to wasted territory, but also dramatically undercuts the magnitude that he faces in his opposition, with the T-1000 of field agents sent to chase Mason falling effortlessly into forgettable territory. When you consider that this movie features cinematic mainstays like Bill Nighy or the recently revered Naomi Ackie, you expect some semblance of irreplaceable value in their responsibility to the script, but they’re relegated to stock dialogue and screen-surveillance that could quite honestly be played by anyone else, in turn not only wasting away an opportunity for these actors to make the role their own, but also offering no semblance of charm or charisma to take some of the burden of responsibility off of Statham’s stoic shoulders. Nighy and Ackie are serviceably wasted, but Bodhi Rae Breathnach is admittedly unsalvageable, floundering much of the movie’s emotional heavy lifting with internalized responses so void of release that never showcase the tears, despite a demeanor that forcefully feels like they’re pulling for them. She never attains a meaningful chemistry with Statham, in ways that make them feel inseparable to the appeal of the audience, nor is her grief ever anguished beyond a single solitary scene for an uncle she just lost, and it all becomes an unrelenting wet blanket to what should be an excitingly edgy escape, providing another unmemorable and distracting child performance to add to the already overwhelming pile that has made up so much of Waugh’s filmography to this point.
OVERALL
“Shelter” is an overly serious conveyor belt product of assembled pieces from previous Statham films, and one that you’ve already seen, even if you don’t entirely realize it. Despite nearly being saved by Statham’s herculean efforts, or even digestibly frenetic action sequences that thrive on kinetic choreography, the film flounders as a result of its minimalized ambition that refuses to break new ground for either the actor or its genre, instead utilizing reheated leftovers that have lost the taste or freshness from their original conception, and in turn leaving Ric Roman Waugh’s latest watered down by its uncompromising parody.
My Grade: 5.8 or C-