'Shelter' Is a Boring Identity
People say there are two things guaranteed in life. Death and taxes. Yet one could argue that there are two other things. Blistering cold temperatures in the Midwest that make you question why you even live there, and Jason Statham movies released in January. Most of the time, they’re forgettable. Once in a while, you get a gem like The Beekeeper; Shelter is more of the usual. It’s yet another by-the-numbers Statham action flick that doesn’t particularly have anything memorable going for it. It’s about as discernible as an action movie you’d find on VOD, but even some of those films have more distinction than this one.
The story, which is hardly there, is of a guy who lives alone in a lighthouse. His only companion is his dog. Who gets left halfway through the story, which is a huge missed opportunity to have an adorable sidekick. The hermit in the lighthouse receives supplies by boat. One day, his courier decides to try to reach out to the loner. To Jesse’s (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) dismay, Michael Mason (Jason Statham) tells her to leave him alone. Sometimes, kids should just listen. Not long afterwards, Jesse gets stranded on the small Scottish island, and groups of SWAT members attempt to eliminate Michael.
It’s not a Jason Statham movie without him being a recluse, hiding from a government agency or secret black op. In this case, Statham worked for MI6 before going rogue because he didn’t want to follow immoral orders. Wouldn’t it be nice if ICE did that? It’s almost as sure as the sun coming up the next day that Statham plays a hermit who has a particular set of skills. Instead of exploring what the orders were that Michael disobeyed or really anything that could give him any meaty backstory, we’re just given a bunch of disposable action scenes.
With video games topping action films, and action flicks holding themselves up to a higher standard, it would be advisable for movies like this to up the ante. Yet they stay stagnant in a series of dull set pieces that utilize the same choreography we’ve seen a million times before. Shake the camera a little and add some quick cuts. Maybe get into a scuffle where someone has to reach for a bottle to smash over the guy’s head. Been there, done that. With the exception of a fairly well-done nightclub shootout, there’s nothing to note about the action, which is supposed to be this film’s selling point. At least if the action isn’t so great, there should be a strong antagonist for the audience to root against. Yet we don’t even get that.
Probably the best Statham movie we've had in a while was The Beekeeper. A flick where scammers are hunted and killed. Who doesn’t hate scammers? At least Beekeeper had someone you wanted to see suffer. In this film, the bad guys are about as discernible as an NPC in a video game. At the heart of this film’s story is the relationship between Michael and Jesse. To aid Jesse, Michael can't let her leave, since he’s being hunted; thus, she will be too, which doesn’t make much sense. Why not just have MI6 kill Michael, then leave Jesse alone? Unless she was involved in his killings.
There’s hardly any chemistry between the two. Statham has said himself that he doesn’t really consider himself an actor, and it shows. Bodhi Rae Breathnach, on the other hand, is doing her best with the script she’s given. Most of the time, Breathnach’s character cries or demands answers from Michael. When the movie reaches its final moments, Jesse yells “I can save you” to Michael, a moment meant to be heartfelt, which erupted in my theater with unintentional laughter. Despite the movie spending all its time with these characters together, their relationship feels painfully artificial due to poor scriptwriting.
Thank goodness Shelter is under two hours, because if this movie were any longer, I’d be begging for Jason Statham to put me to sleep. It’s a clear red flag that your movie is going to be mid when it comes from the guy who directed the Greenland films. Ric Roman Waugh is a rent-a-director with no signature trait. He comes in, directs a generic scene, adds some synthesized music, then walks out. To the film’s credit, it at least dodges some familiar conventions. For instance, Michael didn’t have a family at one time. That angle has been done to death. And... well, I guess that’s all. The film isn’t necessarily well put together. It’s not a collection of disconnected scenes as much as it’s a parade of conventionality woven together in a straight-to-video narrative that happened to make it on the big screen.
The movie almost plays like The Bourne Identity films. There’s a rogue agent with a mysterious past. There’s the agency that’s hunting him, lots of running, and lots of scenes where people are looking at screens. Because nothing is more exciting than seeing people stare at screens. All the character development found in the Matt Damon film is nowhere to be seen in yet another film that will wind up on streaming, probably fairly soon.
