In wide release is Ric Roman Waugh’s action film "The Shelter," in which the indestructible Jason Statham, with another prefix "former...", once again embarks on the path of a noble savior. Whether he succeeded — in our review.

Former special forces soldier Mason (Jason Statham) lives as a hermit on an island. But this is not a retirement vacation — Mason knows that danger is always near. He avoids drawing attention and stubbornly ignores Jessie (Bodhi Rae Brethnach), the niece of his former comrade, who brings him supplies from the mainland. One day a storm arises at sea, and the delivery boat sinks. Mason manages to save Jessie, but his solo trip to town for medicine for her is picked up by MI6. The former head of the agency — Manafort (Bill Nighy) — remembers how Mason once refused to follow an order, and sends a squad of mercenaries to his island.

Answering the question “How many times can you play a former special agent saving another victim?”, Jason Statham probably just furrows his brows like a bison — as if to say, the question is idle. As many times as needed, so be it. And he would be right in his own way. No matter how many B-movies with this Briton are released, his name on the poster remains a guarantee of box office magic. The audience comes to see the brutal Statham once again turn hordes of enemies into dust, those who dared to disturb his well-deserved peace. And if social injustice is also involved in the plot — consider it done: he will dig all the way to the top, and no one in the dark theater doubts that. Actually, that’s why they come.

Who is behind the camera — the director, the screenwriter — becomes a secondary question: Statham’s stone profile overshadows the entire film crew, and it’s easy not to notice. Although in “The Shelter,” strictly speaking, he wasn’t that unlucky. In the director’s chair sits Ric Roman Waugh — a director of solid genre works, including “Snitch,” “Shot Caller,” and the first “Greenland.” Moreover, Roman Waugh is not only a good craftsman but also quite prolific: just this year, two of his films have been released in official Russian distribution: “Greenland 2: Migration” and this very “The Shelter.”

As for Statham’s partner this time, Bill Nighy makes an appearance — though only for about five to seven minutes of screen time, as if by long-standing tradition: there must be a gray-haired sage in a film with Statham. In past films, he was accompanied by a galaxy of legends from Stallone to Rourke, or old friend Jason Flemyng, or Jeremy Irons, or Donald Sutherland. These figures may not have influenced Statham’s performance, but they lent the credits an air of noble gray hair and refined mastery.

This time, however, things did not go according to plan. Or not entirely. One might assume that Ric Roman Waugh, squeezing the maximum out of the team on “Greenland,” left no strength for “The Shelter.” Otherwise, how to explain that the film gets on long-rusted plot rails and, creaking at the turns, rolls toward a lazy finale in which all standard endings of action films about lone protectors merge into one. Moreover, the film lacks even a hint of irony — both toward the hero and the situation as a whole.

Statham’s signature brutal jokes, which previously set the tone, have also disappeared. “The Shelter” burns bridges, leaving no hope of being remembered for anything other than the main star’s gloomy face. Not the worst option, but one would want more genre punchiness, which suits him so well. Statham himself, apparently, is not afraid of becoming ossified in the image of the eternal savior, rightly believing that this will be enough for him until retirement.

The action scenes here seem to be going through the motions: somewhere there wasn’t enough desire, somewhere imagination. Blows are delivered with a stone face, shots sound sluggish, heroes fall without having time to get scared. Even the time-tested and refined formula of a massacre in a neon-lit nightclub (the one that has long become the standard of modern action) does not save the situation. Ric Roman Waugh merely pays tribute to fashion but does not take it seriously, hence he shoots extremely carelessly. Everything happens as if the director simply gave the command “simulate tension,” and everyone on set obediently agreed. Sometimes a spark does run between the stuntmen, and the on-screen blows can be felt in the viewer’s seat, but these are rather pleasant trifles.

At the same time, Ric Roman Waugh, like any creator, does not want to waste the plot idly and tries to squeeze in a couple of thoughts about digital surveillance. A topic that has already been discussed and revealed many times, and Roman Waugh seems to know and feel this, so his statement turned out rather timid and optional. As if the director himself is afraid but does not dare to say anything new. As a result, “The Shelter” resembles a well-assembled but soulless mechanism, in which even Statham looks like a perfectly lubricated part, but not the locomotive.