Shelter

It is not what you expect. Well, it's exactly what you expect, but not in the way you most expect... I was surprised. What Keanu Reeves delivers in quality, Jason Statham makes up for in quantity, and so when I pick out something with him on the cover I expect a couple of things, i.e. schlock and cheap thrills. This one has those things, however it also accomplishes a tad more. It managed to pull on a heartstring -- embarassing, I know, but it did! To get the plot out of the way, Statham is a secret agent in hiding when the daughter of one of his friends becomes his unfortunate responsibility, and he must somehow get her to safety past the myriad cameras and bad guys that are in the way. (The mythological program that watches him totally doesn't exist, by the way.) As if a movie like this could be spoiled, I won't do that to you, but the ending is in a word 'winsome'.

Positives aside, can we talk about the elephant in the room? I hate child actors, and this one puts the 'child' in 'child actor'. I'm sorry, but the guy standing outside the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier displays more emotion on a regular basis...

I enjoy most Jason Statham films because I know what to expect. And when I'm in that mood, his films do a better job than most at this level. But as a Jason Bourne fan, it was hard not to notice that 'Shelter' unashamedly used incredibly similar plot and philosophical devices, characters and even dialogue. These distractions made me chuckle, not frown. Had this been made by Paul Greengrass himself, and with better actors and sharper dialogue, it may have been a smashing film worth a point or two more. As it is, a solid seven for being delightfully entertaining. (Bill Nighy dialled his performance in, though. I have never seen him so hammy.)

**_A one-man-army off the coast of Scotland takes a girl under his wing_**

This is basically Rambo or Die Hard in the UK, starring Jason Statham, albeit with him sort of teaming up with a young adolescent girl, played by Bodhi Rae Breathnach (she was three months shy of 14 years-old when shooting ended). It’s like the drama/adventure “Wildlike” (2014) if it were an action flick taking place on the British Isles.

The opening at the remote lighthouse on a rocky coast is reminiscent of Kirk Douglas’ “The Light at the Edge of the World” from 55 years earlier. Thankfully, the setting isn’t one-dimensional and effectively shifts as the story progresses. There are constant thrills with ocean rescues, booby traps, gunfights, car chases and mano-a-mano fights.

It helps that human interest is added with the developing spiritual father/daughter relationship of the protagonists. Another plus is the lens into modern-day surveillance technology and how easy it is for those on the other side of the cameras to track you in any urbanized area.

It runs 1h 47m and was shot Feb-May 2025 south of Dublin in County Wicklow, Ireland (including the Scottish island) accompanied by drone shots of Lamb Island in the Firth of Forth, Scotland; as well as London and northwest of there in Buckinghamshire, England; and Ronda in southern Spain.

GRADE: B+/A-

Thoroughly enjoyable
Jason keeps making this movie over and over, and they are getting more and more refined. This is the Beekeper, sort of. A Working Man, sort of. The Mechanic, Transporter, and so on. And he does it well. His costar Bodhi is amazing, and with Bill as the anchor for plot the composition is solid. The action is great, the direction solid, the shots on point. I liked this a lot. It is not high cinema, and noone expects it to be. But it is good.

"Shelter" is, with one notable exception, a rather uninspiring action thriller.

I'll start by saying I like Jason Statham, but really, for my money, the shining light in this otherwise rather dull film is Bodhi Rae Breathnach. She shines as the young girl Stratham sets out to save when she gets embroiled in his past life in the world of assassination and espionage.

Looking beyond her performance, most other aspects of this film feel leaden, forced and predictable. Pacing is off too, with a lead-in that's far too drawn out for what is at its core an action film.

In summary, "Shelter" does offer up a few shining moments that showcase new talent, but little else worthy of mention. A mediocre watch.

I’ve always loved the idea of living in a remote Scottish lighthouse where the weather could close in and cut me off from everything and everyone - with, of course, wifi and all the conveniences of home. “Mason” (Jason Statham) has had the same idea - only minus the mod cons, and survives frugally thanks to a weekly delivery from a trawler man (Michael Schaefer) and his young neice “Jessie” (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). She takes pity on this lonely stranger, tries to engage with him and then on one very stormy day gets more than she bargained for ending up stuck with him. She’s injured, so he reluctantly sets off to the mainland where he finds a remarkably well stocked shop. What we know from this short trip is that he was also picked up by the omnipresent “THEA”. That is a covert government snooping system that illegally hacks into everyone’s kit and enables the unscrupulous “Manafort” (the entirely unmenacing Billy Nighy) and his MI6 snoops to keep track on everyone. His face initiates a full scale alert and swiftly his island has some heavily armed unwelcome visitors. Of course, they are no match for his ninja skills, but now he has the young “Jessie” to worry about too as he sets off to keep her safe and seek his revenge on the puppet-master about whom we gradually learn more. Aside from drastically increasing the murder rate of Scotland’s (well Ireland’s, actually) rural fishing/farming/forestry communities, this is a standard vehicle for a Statham who didn’t really need to learn any lines and who really only reprises roles we’ve seen from him plenty of times before. It’s one set-piece combat scene, or car chase, followed by another before it culminates in a conclusion that makes me glad my nightclubbing days are over. Breathnach offers quite a natural performance and he is quite a charismatic actor, is Mr. Statham - just don't be surprised by the predicable but enjoyable enough limitations of what this offers.