In honor of The Meg 2โs success and this weekโs release of Expend4bles, let me start by saying yes, the rumors are true. Jason Statham is my movie idol. Some go so far as to say man-crush. Can you blame me? Not only is he grizzled, good-looking, funny, and topped with a dome you can see your reflection in, but heโs carrying half the weight of both summer spectacle and B action movies on his rippling shoulders. Since 2000 heโs put out 1 to 4 movies every. single. year. And heโs done it without moaning about how hard he works or using โmethod actingโ as an excuse to get high on his own farts like Daniel Day-Lewis and Jared Leto. Heโs done it without abusing his crew or reports of sexual misconduct. Heโs done it without saying something mean about trans people, people of color, or his co-stars. And though heโs now part of several franchises โ my theory is that the Fast, Expendables, and Meg worlds will one day collide when they realize Shaw\Christmas\Jonas is the key to saving the multiverse โ heโs so far done it without putting on tights and a mask. 2023 alone saw the release of films in all 3 movie universes, and the delayed release of Operation: Fortune. He is inescapable.
I first saw Statham in 2000โs Snatch. Being a Yankee country boy meant Iโd missed Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels and wouldnโt discover it for several years. In the meantime I saw Statham again in Ghosts of Mars (meh) and The One, which remains one of my favorite cheesy action movies despite Stathamโs haircut. Then 2002 brought The Transporter. God, do I love The Transporter, almost as much as Crank. Itโs perfectly dumb, like a yellow lab that knows martial arts. Youโve got Statham as Frank Martin, an anal retentive getaway driver with chiseled good looks and a heart of gold. The stunning Shu Qi as the lying Lai, Ric Young slumming it as her cartoonishly evil father, Franรงois Berlรฉand happily earning a paycheck as affable Inspector Tarconi, and an insane performance from Matt Schulze as โWall Street,โ the murderous human trafficker, who gives off all kinds of mixed signals โ does he want to murder Frank or screw him? It remains unclear. Many things are unclear in The Transporter. Why does everyone fire tracer rounds? What did Frank plan to do with the bike cops who conveniently blew up? Who leaves an open 50-gallon barrel of motor oil sitting around? How exactly does one parachute from a prop plane and land on a moving trailer truck? The answer to all of these is the same: it doesnโt matter.
The Transporter led to The Italian Job and whatโs come to be a pattern for Statham; every few years heโs in a major production with recognizable costars, broken up by mostly interchangeable B-quality action movies. The former includes The Expendables, Death Race (technically fits both categories), Parker, the Fast franchise, Homefront, and Spy. The latter includes movies with names like Revolver, Blitz, Safe, and Wild Card. Stathamโs usually saddled with a ridiculous name like Nick Wild or Phil Broker and is a man with a mysterious, violent past down on his luck until he finds a damsel or small child to protect, sometimes both. Theyโre a return to the classic action movie format of the 1980s and 90s in a way thatโs otherwise difficult to find without turning to equally great Asian cinema. Donโt get me wrong; I love Keanuโs John Wick, and thereโs a place for the CGI spectacle of the superhero movie industry. But cut away all the lens flare, motion capture, and EDM soundtracks and strip the story to its basic โone reluctant warrior against the world,โ and thatโs Stathamโs niche. He has 2 basic settings; suave charm, and bloody furious. In both he has an effortless physical presence that Tom Cruise went for in Reacher and the M:I movies, but only achieved in Collateral. Stathamโs angry stalk across the screen in Crank became emblematic of the energy he brought to his films, when he wasnโt the cool professional in The Mechanic and Wrath of Man. By the way, if youโre getting the impression I grade Statham movies on a more generous curve than some of the other staff, youโre right and I feel no shame. It helps that heโs fit without having a body that looks sculpted from roast beef (Stallone, Johnson), and isnโt so old viewers worry his bones will shatter with every punch (Neeson, Stallone again). But both those descriptions ignore Stathamโs secret weapon; heโs funny as f-ck.
It makes movies like Wrath of Man, one of Stathamโs few duds, stand out. The scriptโs utter humorlessness turns Statham into a robot without any of his vitality or charm. The fact it comes from Guy Ritchie, who previously used Stathamโs natural talent to such great effect, makes it all the more inexplicable.
But Stathamโs best feature might be that you never hear from the man unless heโs on the screen or giving a promotional interview. Google โJason Statham gossip,โ and all youโll find are some red carpet and public dining photos of Statham and his long-time girlfriend, fiancรฉe, supermodel Rosie Huntington-Whiteley. No DUIโs, no public shouting matches, nothing. How did he feel about masking mandates? How does he vote? I have no idea! โShutting the f-ck up is freeโ is a sentiment often voiced on Pajiba, and itโs a mantra Statham takes to heart, alleviating the need for mealy-mouthed apologies. Itโs the perfect transactional relationship.
Statham approaches his craft with the blue-collar attitude with which he grew up. The man does his job, cashes his checks, and otherwise stays out of the public eye. He plays well with others, adding to his ensemble films without demanding center stage. His solo ventures are reminiscent of a competent home carpenterโs dining set; there are no-frills, few artistic flourishes, but they are well-made and perfectly suited for their purpose. Even when the film in question is pure nonsense โ and as much as I adore The Meg and its sequel I canโt claim theyโre else โ Statham makes it work. After this weekโs release of Expend4bles Statham has several more projects already in the pipeline, including The Beekeeper, one of his typical solo projects written by Kurt Wimmer and directed by David Ayer, and Viva La Madness, a 10-part netflix crime comedy based on the book by J.J. Connolly and a sequel of sorts to 2004โs Layer Cake starring Daniel Craig. It should allow Statham to stretch both his acting and comedy chops, and itโs one Iโm really looking forward to. Heโll also return as Deckard Shaw in the next Fast X installment, and is no doubt beavering away quietly on a few more surprises. One thingโs for sure; you never have to wait too long to see Statham grace the screen once again.