Reviews

Jason Statham has starred in at least one action movie per year for several years, and his first offering for 2026 is Shelter.

In Ric Roman Waugh’s film, the Fast and Furious star plays Mason, a former assassin who has been in hiding on a remote Scottish island for many years.

He is forced to break cover to rescue a young girl named Jesse (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) from drowning at sea during a storm. As soon as his location is discovered, his former employees send agents to kill him, so Mason must keep himself and Jesse alive.

Given Statham’s most recent action outings, like A Working Man and The Beekeeper, you might expect Shelter to be a light-hearted action romp, but it’s actually more of a serious drama-slash-thriller with plenty of action scenes and heart.

Statham has made a name for himself in the action genre and is well known for doing as many of his own stunts as possible. He’s as physically capable as ever, selling every fight and nailing each moment of stunt choreography.

There are some inventive action moments, but the sequences are often hard to follow, and they feel pretty average compared to what we’ve seen Statham pull off before.

With a Statham action movie, you don’t want to wait too long to get to the fun stuff, but Waugh really stretches out the first act where Mason nurses Jesse back to health in his cottage.

While some of this sequence is necessary to build the foundation of their bond and trust, which is the heart of the film, we spend far too much time here, and some viewers might feel bored before it even gets going.

The highlight of the film is the partnership between Statham and Breathnach. At first, there is no bond between them at all, but it gradually evolves and they trust and care about each other more and more. Mason also realises that Jesse is more grown-up and useful than he initially gave her credit for.

They are supported by Bill Nighy as a slippery MI6 boss, Naomi Ackie as a determined team leader in charge of the operation, and the kind Daniel Mays as Mason’s former colleague.

While the central friendship and some of the action moments are good, the film as a whole is too long and serious to stand out among all the titles in Statham’s action filmography.

In cinemas from Friday 30th January

By Hannah Wales

© Cover Media