Courtney Howard // Film Critic
SHELTER
Rated R, 1 hour and 47 minutes
Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh
Starring: Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Bill Nighy, Naomi Ackie, Bryan Vigier
Jason Statham kicks, punches and guns down a gaggle of mercenaries in his annual “January Movie,” SHELTER. That should be enough to satiate our discriminating tastes and yet the post-neo Western espionage thriller in which he stars is too serious, airless and downbeat for its own good. Directed in workmanlike fashion by Ric Roman Waugh (who opened the month with the sublime sequel GREENLAND 2: MIGRATION), the story centers on a grizzled, laconic loner with a hidden past that’s forced into the light once a tenacious teen is stranded in his care. While the action is fairly well-staged (even putting an innovative spin on a JOHN WICK staple sequence) and the leads are a perfectly-matched pairing, the overall package fails to deliver the goods.
Michael Mason (Statham) has rejected practically everything and everyone. His self-abnegation has even caused him to reject his own name, preferring not to utter it to anyone. The silent, solitary man lives on an island off Scotland, in a derelict lighthouse outfitted with the barest of essentials. His only companion is an unnamed dog (word of warning: while the dog dies, his death significantly informs character arcs and thematic ties). His days include staring out at the choppy ocean waters, sketching in a notepad while listening to the radio, and boozing in a futile attempt to quell his PTSD-driven nightmares. The main thing he cares about is preserving his privacy.
Mason’s quiet life is interrupted when inquisitive, intrepid Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) arrives, helping her uncle deliver groceries to the remote island. After a surprise storm drowns Jesse’s uncle and leaves her maimed, Mason’s cold heart thaws. He takes in the orphan, letting her heal from a bad ankle wound. But when he’s forced to return to the mainland for supplies, his activity is picked up by MI-6’s high-tech, legally-questionable surveillance system. He’s mistaken for a terrorist by agency director Roberta Frost (Naomi Ackie), but she quickly deduces a suspicious cover-up might be afoot, calling upon retired spymaster/ Mason’s former handler Steven Manafort (Bill Nighy) for clarification. As Mason and Jesse go on the run, they find themselves in the crosshairs of the local police and an unrelenting, agile assassin named Workman (Bryan Vigier).
Though the screenwriters and directors change hands, Statham’s recent films – THE BEEKEEPER, WORKING MAN and now SHELTER – follow a familiar pattern where his hero with a guilty conscience has retreated from a former life as a secret operative and is awakened to enact a vengeance-fueled quest towards redemption. It’s been written that contractually he can’t lose a fight on-screen (along with The Rock and Vin Diesel). Not a bad gig, but that’s where the filmmakers are tasked to work overtime, battling against predictability and artistic complacency. There’s always going to be that asterisk that noticeably hangs in the air.
Waugh and writer Ward Parry attempt to rise above that challenge, but they’re dealt severely limiting constraints as the action is rarely accompanied by suspense. We know Mason will inevitably get out of whatever danger he’s in, whether that be fisticuffs, foot pursuits or shootouts. The manner in which he escapes changes, occasionally delivering a subtle twinge of excitement, like his HOME ALONE-inspired lighthouse booby traps (which are plowed through too quickly) and the nightclub shootout where he takes out a bunch of gray-suited baddies without disrupting the club classics and clientele.
Other times, it laughably underwhelms. Mason’s former ops knowledge comes in handy during his face-offs with Workman, except for the time it matters the most, during their first literal run-in when Mason doesn’t get out of his car to check if his TERMINATOR 2-esque adversary is dead. Narrative momentum hits a noticeable lull in energy in the middle – a plateau the filmmakers have trouble lifting us off of in the 3rd act, which isn’t as thrilling a showdown as it should’ve been.
What Waugh and Parry do have going for them are the moments of grace they craft for Mason and Jessie to trauma bond and find personal connection, from scenes where Mason sees Jesse playing with his dog (who metaphorically represents hope), who she names Jack, to later when they grieve the dog’s loss during a car ride. Statham exhibits deep wells of vulnerability, coloring his performance with empathy and refinement. He’s also fairly captivating as the drifter hero of not many words – at least before he starts having to talk. His black wool peacoat drawing inspiration from Robert Redford’s in THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR. He and Breathnach share a strong, natural chemistry, rapport and rootability. She builds depth and dimension into the material. Ackie and Nighy draw the short ends of the stick, with Ackie stuck acting primarily against a giant screen and Nighy as slippery as he is sedentary.
While SHELTER is a little better than Waugh’s usual one-offs (like KANDAHAR and SNITCH), this one-person-army feature doesn’t reach the heights Statham’s oeuvre has gifted us with before at this time of year when the theatrical pickings are slim. It ironically doesn’t provide much of a respite for our weary cinephile souls.
Grade: 2.5 out of 5
SHELTER opens in theaters on January 30.
