Shelter (2026)

There are some actors you know what sort of film you are going to get and Jason Statham is the modern day poster child for this. You know that you are going to get a film where people are sent to attack/kill the Statham character and he ends up killing them. Shelter is another example of an acting giving the audience what they want and it sees Statham play Michael Mason who is an  ex member of a black ops group black kite is hunted down by the th ex head of MI6 (played brilliantly by Bill Nighy) because 10 years earlier he refused to kill someone and now along with a young girl he has to try and avoid being killed.

The plot is simple but it doesn't really need to be anymore complicated or convoluted. It’s your typical Jason Statham film and it’s a lot of fun. The only real issue that I have with the film is that it does feel a bit rushed at the end but the action scenes are quite good and it’s worth seeing just for evil Bill Nighy. I was impressed with Bodhi Rae Breathnach as Jesse. I recently saw her in Hamnet but in this she is quite good considering her role is nothing special but she makes the most out of it and the relationship with her character and Mason was nice to see. The whole idea about surveillance isn’t really that explored very much but it’s a Jason Statham film so you’re not expecting Oppenheimer.

Bill Nighy is clearly having fun as the evil boss of MI6 Manafort but there is also a good performance from Naomi Ackie who is named as his interim replacement Roberta who uncovers what her predecessor has been up to but stops short of pardoning Mason. Daniel Mays pops up for about 10 minutes and they have his character dying from cancer and yet he doesn’t get to do a noble sacrifice which is a minor criticism as it’s always nice to see Mays on screen.

Shelter is a lot of fun and one of the better Statham films. The action scenes are fun and its clear that some effort has been put into making them look as good as possible. The thing about Statham is that he knows his audience and knows what they like so he gives them what he wants but what puts him above some in this genre is that he seems to still care. That might not sound like a big thing but given how many people seem to have been phoning it in in recent years you end up appreciating what Statham does a little bit more. Definitely worth your time.