My Cultural Diet

Jason Statham has perfected a very specific role over the years: the taciturn loner who just wants to be left to his own devices and is clearly hiding from a mysterious past, only to be forced to reveal a bad-ass set of skills that you knew he had all along. It’s a role that he plays to the hilt in films like Wrath of Man, The Beekeeper, A Working Man, and most recently, Shelter. Mason (Statham) lives with his dog on a remote Scottish island, with his only human contact being the boat that brings him supplies. But when a young girl falls into his care, Mason is forced to venture back out into the world, which catches the attention of some deadly people. Nobody pulls off “looking grim while kicking ass” like Statham, but Shelter is definitely a mid-tier film of his, and his haunted visage looks a little less cool against all of the conspicuous green screen. Once the revelations and conspiracies come to light in the film’s final act, don’t be surprised if you suddenly find yourself wishing you were watching one of the Bourne films instead. Also, I think I might have given Shelter slightly higher marks if I hadn’t just watched She Rides Shotgun, another film about a man and a young girl on the run that’s much more interesting, visually and thematically.

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