A One Mann’s Movies review of “Shelter”. (2026, 3*, 15).
You know what to expect from a Jason Statham-led action/thriller. And this offering from earlier this year, which I saw on my recent plane flight to Jamaica, doesn’t disappoint. More one-man-army-style violence but at least this one does have a fairly interesting premise and I found myself engaged with it.
But only two weeks later and finally writing up the review, I am struggling to remember what happened, which really isn’t a good sign! So my rating rather reflects that. If I’d reviewed it immediately on watching it, it might have been a half point higher.
One Mann’s Movies Rating:
Plot:
Mason (Jason Statham) lives a reclusive life on an otherwise deserted island. His only contacts with humanity are his supply deliveries by boat, with Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach) leaving the supplies for him to pick-up when they’ve gone. But when disaster strikes and his location is identified, a shadowy government organisation needs him dispatched (for dubious reasons which now, I can’t quite remember!).
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC website: “Strong violence, language.”)
Talent:
Starring: Jason Statham, Bodhi Rae Breathnach, Michael Shaeffer, Bill Nighy, Harriet Walter, Naomi Ackie, Bally Gill.
Directed by: Ric Roman Waugh.
Written by: Bally Gill.
Running Time: 1h 47m.
Review:
Positives:
- There is more to this film than a normal Statham shoot-’em-up. The reason why Mason is a recluse and the mysteries of his – and Jessie’s – past are kept nicely undercover until the truth is revealed. What starts as a ‘home invasion’ story turns into a chase movie of one expert assassin pitched against another.
- When Statham does come to the ‘one-man-army’ bit of the plot, delivered with “Home Alone” glee as commandos storm the island, it’s delivered with style and is entertaining enough.
- The chase sequences of Mason and the hired hitman Aziz (unusually, the film’s writer Bally Gill) are well done, even if we have seen this many times before.
- Young Bodhi Rae Breathnach goes from her excellent feature debut in Hamnet (she played the daughter Susanna) to a co-starring performance here, and handles it really well. The film could have lived and died on this performance (and it lived!)
Negatives:
- Aside from the differences in the set-up, this is a typical ‘Statham’ actioner that he could do in his sleep. There’s nothing horribly wrong with this, for an entertaining popcorn-munching, brain-resting, beer-swigging night on the sofa. But I’m not going to give it many points for originality!
- Bill Nighy as an evil, nasty government bad-guy? Hmm… I didn’t believe it for Colin Firth in “Disclosure Day” and I didn’t really buy it in this film either.
- I don’t mind films that dispatch hench-men of the bad guys (“will nobody think of the hench-mans’ families?”) but there is a scene in here leaving a farm boy orphaned that hit a bit of a sour note for me.
Note:
An interesting credit reference: thanks are given in the end credits for the use of Mason’s island – Lamb Island (The Lamb), a small, uninhabited rock in the Firth of Forth off the coast of North Berwick, Scotland – which belongs to no other than 70’s spoon-bending legend, Uri Geller!
Triggers:
There’s a trigger for animal lovers but as it’s a spoiler I’ve put it in a Spoiler Section below the trailer.
Summary Thoughts:
It was entertaining as a thriller, but pretty unmemorable just a couple of weeks later. Ric Roman Waugh directs and this is so much better than his last film (the execrable “Greenland 2: Migration“).
Where to watch?
Trailer:
The trailer for the film is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISOoDwsryPc.
Spoiler Section:
Don’t read past this point if you’ve not seen the movie.
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NO, SERIOUSLY!
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Animal Lovers:
Note that this film will get a mention on doesthedogdie.com. This happens during the scenes in which the commandoes storm the island.
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