The Jason Statham Hall of Fame
An homage to the greatest movie star on the planet
Right off the top, let me just say it: There is no greater entertainment vehicle than a film starring Jason Statham.
Every day, someone will ask if I’ve seen whatever show is the latest to find an audience. If you run into me on the street or at the ol’ ball orchard and want to ask me, don’t. The answer is “no.”
“Have you seen The White Lotus?” No.
“The Pitt?” No.
“The Penguin?” No.
“The Bear?” No.
“The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet?” No.
No. Just no. Who has the time?
I do, however, watch a lot of movies. I find time for that. Listen, I have a finite amount of leisure time available. Don’t ask me to spend 20 hours to watch two seasons of “Severance” when I could watch ten movies in that span. Or, better yet, five movies and spend the rest of my free time touching grass or writing dumb newsletters.
So anyway, I like movies and I like all different genres. I watch every Best Picture nominee and every comic book movie too. (At least, until recently. I just can’t force myself to watch “Kraven the Hunter” or whatever it’s called. Marvel has lost the plot.) I watch serious art-house fare and I watch dumb popcorn entertainment. Foreign films, classic cinema, Adam Sandler comedies. I don’t discriminate.
But there’s one genre that reliably delivers for me. It’s a particular brand of action/thriller in which Jason Statham beats the devil out of bad guys while usually dancing around a flimsy plot. I mean, sign me up for literally every single one of these.
Last year’s The Beekeeper made my year-end top ten. Here’s the plot: One man’s campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers. Just phenomenal entertainment, with some incredible puns. “Gotta protect the hive!”
Last weekend, I saw A Working Man, the latest in the Statham oeuvre. Not quite as good as The Beekeeper, but still, a satisfying couple of hours in the theater. Spoiler alert: Statham plays a working man who has to take care of some business.
I hope they keep making Statham action thrillers forever and ever and ever. They’re in a similar vein to the 80s action movies we all loved starring Arnold and Sly. A Working Man was actually produced and co-written by Sylvester Stallone, so there’s a literal connection. At their best, these Statham movies today are more stylized and better-scripted than most of those 1980s movies. At their worst, they’re still a lot of fun.* I’ll go to the movies for every single one of them.
*Except for The Meg and Meg 2. They are both horrendously bad.
Another genre I adore without reservation is The Guy Ritchie Experience. When Statham and Ritchie team up, I’m like a Swiftie. Get out of my way, I’m not missing this.
If you haven’t succumbed to the glorious appeal of the Statham genre, buckle up. You’re in for a treat. Here’s my ranking of the films in Statham’s filmography that are absolutely worth your time. Enjoy.
Snatch. The quintessential Statham and Ritchie project. Inject it into my veins.
A note: I didn’t include any Fast and Furious films here. Mostly because I’ve only seen a couple and I’m not particularly interested in that series. Also, they’re not Statham movies.
So…tip of the cap to Jason Statham, the greatest movie star in the world. Keep it up, champ. Oscar-nominees? No. But every time he steps to the plate, he hits a single at least, and one occasionally gets into the gap for two or three bases. Plus, he does have three home runs at the top of the list above. Reliable entertainment. Give me more.
(By the way, you should connect with me on Letterboxd. Best social media platform out there.)
I want to look like Statham. I’m already balding, so there’s only a couple more boxes to check.
Big Statham fan as well, but I question your ranking of both the Transporter and Mechanic so low on the list. Those are both quintessential JS flicks! The driving scenes alone bump transporter at least 5 spots. Also, if you are including The Expendables on the list then you need to add F&F. He’s a integral part of a number of those.
Kraven wasn’t awful like Madam Web or Mobius.