‘Shelter’ Review: A Solid New Jason Statham Flick

Jason Statham should probably stop pretending not to be who he actually is. In recent films, he’s played a construction worker and a beekeeper who turned out to have secret pasts as lethal government operatives. In his latest effort he plays a lighthouse keeper on a remote island in the Scottish Hebrides. It’s not hard to figure out that he’s hiding a lethal past. I’m beginning to suspect that he’s not really an actor but rather a deadly assassin who’s just pretending to be one.

In any case, Shelter reliably provides plenty of the action that Statham fans crave, not to mention his trademark charisma and low-key underplaying that makes Charles Bronson look overly demonstrative. But the film also adds a strong emotional component that gives it more gravitas than his usual vehicles. And it boasts some top-flight British actors in the cast, including Bill Nighy, Harriet Walter and Naomi Ackie, who give it some class.

Statham plays Mason, who lives by himself in the lighthouse, with only his loyal dog for company. And that seems to be exactly as he likes it. He spends his spare time playing chess with himself, and his weekly supply of deliveries involves no human contact when brought to him by a young girl, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Hamnet), and her uncle. Indeed, when she knocks on his door one day just to see what will happen, he makes it clear that she’s never to do that again.

But when she nearly drowns attempting to return to her uncle’s boat during a raging storm, Mason doesn’t hesitate to risk his life to save her. He nurses Jessie back to health and even takes a rare trip to the mainland to procure some much-needed medicine.

That turns out to be a mistake, since a commando team soon storms his island with orders to kill him on sight. It seems that Mason is a former Special Forces soldier who has been hiding for years because he ran afoul of his superior, Manafort (Nighy), when he refused to obey an illegal order out of conscience. Manafort has taken revenge by switching Mason’s identity with that of a wanted terrorist, leading M16 to go on their mission. What they didn’t reckon with is that Mason has booby-trapped his refuge to the hilt and makes short order of the attackers.

Forced to go on the lam with Jessie, he turns to a former colleague for help (the reliably good Daniel Mays, The Thursday Murder Club). And Mason definitely needs it, because Manafort has set loose his most lethal assassin, known only as Workman (Bryan Vigier, John Wick: Chapter 4), to eliminate him. Workman, who makes the Terminator look like a slacker, proves a formidable foe for the older Mason.

You can guess the rest. Lots of shootouts, hand-to-hand fights and chases as Mason desperately tries to get Jessie to safety and avoid getting killed himself. His good-guy status is further emphasized in an encounter with a group of policemen whom he manages to subdue without seriously injuring any of them.

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, who has plenty of experience with this sort of thing (Angel Has Fallen, Greenland and its recent sequel), Shelter boasts plenty of exciting action sequences, including a shootout in a crowded nightclub that seems just a tad more realistic than the surreal one in the last John Wick film. Throughout it all, Mason lives up to Manafort’s description of him as a “precision instrument” with his uncanny ability to outfight and outwit his opponents at every turn.    

Providing some respite from the violent mayhem are scenes in which Manafort stares intently at computer screens tracking what’s going on and the new MI6 chief (Ackie) barks orders at her underlings. Harriet Walter shows up briefly as the British prime minister, who’s in cahoots with Manafort; it’s the third time the distinguished actress has played a prime minister, so it’s not surprising that she doesn’t break a sweat.

Ultimately, what distinguishes the film from the many Statham shoot-em-ups that have preceded it is Mason’s increasingly close relationship with the young girl, excellently played by Breathnach, who helps him get back in touch with his human side. Their scenes together provide Shelter with a tender quality that could well expand the action star’s fan base.