Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new review! For this one, I will be taking a look at the latest Jason Statham starring action movie, which at this point has become a brand unto itself. This new one is directed by David Ayer and written by none other than Sylvester Stallone, based off of a book by Chuck Dixon. When it comes to Statham, I am a big fan of his, as I find him to be a really cool and charismatic presence who always gives it his all, especially when it comes to pulling off some awesome stunts. I was especially fond of the last time he collaborated with Ayer, which was last year’s The Beekeeper, which I found to be an absolute blast with some great action and a willingness to embrace the absurdity of its premise. I also really liked Homefront, which was the last time Statham starred in a Stallone penned project. So when you combine all of these factors together, I’m naturally going to be interested in seeing what the result is. Is this a final product that reflects the potential on paper? Let’s jump right in and see what this every day working stiff has on the agenda!
Things kick off with an opening title sequence that details the military career of one Levon Cade, a former Royal Marine Commando, who is now in charge of a construction team run by the Garcia family. He is very close with them and sees them as family, due to how they gave him a chance to live a life of peace away from the chaos of his Black Ops days. One day, though, his boss’s daughter, Jenny, ends up getting kidnapped by human traffickers while partying with friends. While hesitant at first, he promises the family that he will do everything he can to bring Jenny home. Thus, he goes on a mission to hunt down the people responsible for this and track down Jenny before it is too late.
At this point, one knows what they are in for when they walk into one of these movies, so it is all a matter of how successful it is at delivering the goods. Thankfully, I felt A Working Man does a solid job in that regard. It is definitely a more conventional Statham vehicle in comparison to something like The Beekeeper which takes things a step further, but it still manages to deliver the appropriate thrills. The main conflict is set up well and efficiently and it is very entertaining and satisfying to watch Levon take out all of these despicable people one by one. There is even a bit of an escalation in regards to how much bigger the threat becomes as Levon learns more about what he is dealing with with some attempts at John Wick like world building (though not nearly as detailed) which I found amusing and thought it kept things interesting. It might run a bit too long for it’s own good but at the very least, it is never boring.
One does wonder if there is a bit of a disconnect between what Stallone wanted to do and the direction Ayer went in. The former clearly wants to say something about the horrors of human trafficking, while the latter is looking to make a splashy action revenge movie. So it is a little odd seeing these two conflicting visions combine into a film that is somewhat reserved as far as saying anything or showcasing the full harshness of human trafficking (I don’t even think the term is used that often at all in the film). The tonal battle is definitely evident, though not quite distracting to the extent that it bothered me too much. I can appreciate the attempt to say something a bit more (and it can be neat to see the instigators get what’s coming to them), but it is fairly surface level in surface of a familiar if entertaining revenge tale.
I can hand it to Ayer though, that he does know how to make well made action film. Similar to The Beekeeper, this is a very polished mid budget studio programmer that uses its $40 million budget very well. It is nicely shot by Shawn White with some cool looking frames here and there, nice use of lighting and the colors pop out in order to emphasize the lavishness of the different crime organizations present here very well. I also like the use of darker tones when we encounter scenes with more serious and menacing things going on. Jared Michael Fry’s score also does the job in getting these feelings across and really builds up the intensity well when utilized. The action itself (the reason for the season one may argue) is fun to watch unfold as we get some bloody kills that are brutal and the sequences are comprehensible and intense.
There are some neat shoot outs and hand to hand brawls throughout and not matter what Statham delivers them so much effort and puts in all the work to make them as convincing as possible. There’s occasionally some fun use of the environment as well with a close quarters scene inside of a moving truck and the final battle being great examples of this. I do kind of wish the film took more advantage of him being a construction worker when it came to the action aside from one beginning part, just so that it could’ve given it a more unique angle. Still, that doesn’t make the scenes any less fun to witness. Plus the film does well in showing off Devon’s skills as a Black Ops solider with him doing a lot of maneuvers that give off that vibe.
Then again one could argue that the reason for the season is Statham himself, who has pretty much mastered playing cinematic tough guys one wouldn’t want to mess with, to the point where each character he plays is a slight variation on the same archetype. Considering how well he is at doing that, it’s not too much of a criticism. Levon is of a similar ilk as other Statham protagonist, a very imitating guy who will take one down if they get in his way, but like his character in Homefront, he also is someone who would rather get away from this life and spend time with those he loves. He is given a decent amount of development as we see him living his life as a construction worker and he is a likable presence whom one can sympathize with due to his issues moving on from his war life. He also just has nice comradery with those he interacts with the relationship between him and his daughter, Merry (Isla Gie) being surprisingly sweet. Again, Statham brings a level professionalism to his roles that helps in making one care about what is going on, even if things can be familiar.
When it comes to the supporting cast, a lot of them are meant to fill obligatory roles necessary for this kind of story. Arianna Rivas is good as Jenny, even if she is there to kick the plot into gear even if I did like that she is given a bit more agency than these damsels in distresses tend to get. Michael Pena is mainly there to play the concerning father, but again does well in the limited screentime he has. Same goes for David Harbour as a close military friend of Levon who got blinded in battle, Gunny, who one thinks might get more to do than he actually ends up getting. The villains of the picture are for the most part, standard human trafficker/drug dealer archetypes who manage to be elevated a bit by their colorful personalities and costumes. The likes of Maximilian Osinski, Andrej Kaminsky, Chidi Ajufo, and Cokey Falkow, among others really enliven their characters and make them stand out with each having their own personality and make for some entertaining threats. Stand outs in this regard though are, Emmett J. Scanlan and Eve Mauro as Viper and Artemis respectively. They are both very fun as fairly sloppy hench people that bicker a lot and frustrated in the mess they are in. They have some very amusing interactions and provide some of the bigger laughs of the picture.
On the whole, I had a good time with A Working Man and found it to be a solid outing for David Ayer and Jason Statham. It may not be quite as strong as the intersection of people involved would have one believe as it is fairly conventional in regards to plot, has some tonal issues, is a bit long, and has quite a few two dimensional supporting members. But it is still consistently enjoyable with it being a solid revenge tale, the story delivering what it needs to, the action being brutal, the craftsmanship being solid, great work by Statham, and some fun performances from the rest of the cast. Fans of Statham will likely be pleased as will those in the mood for a nice meat and potatoes action flick that gets the job done. It never quite reaches the heights of The Beekeeper, but it shows how good Ayer is at making these kinds of movies and there is a place in the movie world for it. Plus, I just can’t help but get a kick out of Statham beat the s*** out of a bunch of terrible people, and it’s hard not to see why he has made this schtick his bread and butter. Here’s hoping, he continues this for years to come!
Rating: B
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