‘Shelter’ Finds Statham Playing His Greatest Hits

Jason Statham’s aging action hero shtick is bulletproof.

He even looks like a bullet, his bald head aimed at the baddies. You know he’ll always find his target. But in recent years, his movies have given us just enough novelty to make the familiar feel … new.

New-ish is more accurate.

“Shelter” starts with a novel concept but settles into the Statham formula with crushing speed. A taut cast flounders through action movie cliches while director Ric Roman Waugh reminds us how good his fight choreography can be, and there’s enough of it to keep our attention.

The story suggests so much more than merely Statham on autopilot.

Statham stars as Michael Mason, a loner who drinks away his life as a lighthouse operator. Except the lighthouse is no longer functional, so isolation is his endgame. He even pushes away a teen girl named Jessie (a wonderful Bodhi Rae Breathnach) who tries to connect with him while delivering his weekly supplies.

A brutal storm forces Mason to save Jessie from drowning, but her only family connection drowns in the waves. He takes her into his home, but in the process of rehabbing her from a leg injury alerts old foes that he’s no longer off the grid.

You see, Mason is a former Special Forces agent who went rogue, and he’s been in hiding for his own safety after defying orders (for the best of reasons, natch). If you’d seen a half dozen Statham movies, you can sketch out the rest.

Bill Nighy classes up the joint as a duplicitous bureaucrat, while Naomi Ackie is under-utilized as the new MI6 chief who is far less evil than he in the spy game.

The film’s opening scenes are patient and stark, suggesting Mason’s past rendered him unable to function in society. Did he lose his family or suffer a trauma so severe that he had to withdraw from the world?

That might have led to a different, more engaging story.

Instead, Mason is soon on the run, meeting old allies and trying to stay one step ahead of Nighy’s goons. Except, and this is the wacky part, Mason is the best of the best, an elite killing machine who can take down a small army without suffering a scratch.

Yeah, that felt fresh when John Rambo ransacked Smalltown USA in 1982’s “First Blood,” but in 2026 it’s approaching eyeroll fodder.

And while we’re able to accept Mason as a killing machine, his increasingly illogical escapes push the Credibility Meter, even for a genre film.

The film’s big selling point is the Mason/Jessie bond. The young actress is engaging and raw, and her connection to Mason is palpable despite an anemic script.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The rest, of course, is Statham doing what he does best. He remains a flawless fighting machine, improvising against a wave of enemies with deadly intentions.

Sometimes.

He doesn’t always kill the goons out to erase him. He can’t decide if he’s a reluctant warrior or a vengeful killing machine. “Shelter” can’t, either. Sure, he spares hapless cops from his deadly wrath, but he must know some of the agents out for his blood have been misled.

Right?

Most of the action set pieces are perfectly fine but rote. A few are exceptional, including one battle with an unstoppable agent (Bryan Vigier) who essentially does the work Mason once did. That dynamic is another element with potential, but it’s mostly unexplored.

The two warriors share a moment late in the film that could have yielded something fascinating, but Waugh resorts to a typical resolution.

If this is your first Statham movie, “Shelter” will be both generic and engaging. For the actor’s fans, the action romp will quickly fade from memory while we wait for “The Beekeeper 2.”

HiT or Miss: “Shelter” finds Jason Statham taking out the trash, again, but you won’t pine for a sequel.

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‘Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die’ Overdoses on Originality

Sam Rockwell can do almost anything on screen, even make us believe he’s a man from the future wearing a gaudy Halloween costume.

“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” puts the Oscar-winner’s skills to the test in a story teeming with the absurd. It’s a bleak sci-fi comedy with several axes to grind, but the biggest one should be aimed at gonzo auteur Gore Verbinski.

Why did the director make a frothy social satire so darn long? Whatever fun we wring from this grab bag of sly gags, social commentary and culture war broadsides is muted when the saga barrels past the two-hour mark.

It might still be going on, for all we know.

An L.A. diner gets an unwelcome patron, a fellow dressed like a “Star Trek” castoff circa 1967. This Man from the Future (Rockwell) commandeers the diner with a not-so-disguised threat.

He needs volunteers to fight against a deadly foe or society is doomed. His garb hardly bespeaks the future. He looks like a homeless man who attempted an unwise TikTok challenge.

No one believes him at first. Would you?

But he has a series of bombs strapped to his chest and he won’t take “no” for an answer. So a few diner denizens join him in a quest that looks doomed from the start.

From there, Verbinski takes the “Weapons” route, stopping the action to focus on the lives of several volunteers. That includes Michael Pena and Zazie Beetz as substitute teachers at a school where smartphone-obsessed teens rule the roost.

Be afraid.

Haley Lu Richardson gets a close-up as a troubled 20-something who swiftly falls in love against all odds.

And, in the most heart-wrenching subplot, Juno Temple plays a mother who loses her son to a school shooting only to be reunited with him in short order.

The latter is … complicated. Creepy, even.

The film’s focus on school shootings seriously damages its bleak but whimsical tone. Yes, all this talk about the world as we know ending is dire, but watching a mother mourn for her child is specific and gut-wrenching.

Even worse, that subplot doesn’t necessarily gel with the other messages afoot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” has plenty to say about gun violence, social media gone amok and, ultimately, artificial intelligence. Some of it plays out as wise and wonderful. Other times, the hectoring can be a bit much.

It’s painful to ding a movie this original, this willing to subvert our expectations. Rockwell keeps it all together, a Herculean task given the potpourri of themes, visual gags and characters.

Yet even he can’t save a film that doesn’t know what’s best for it. “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” keeps piling on the absurdities until we want to scream, “Enough! We get it!”

But no, Verbinski lacks any sense of restraint, so the giddy joy we felt in the first hour slowly seeps away. By the end, a dour twist on the film’s existing formula, you’ll pine for the manic nature of those first few scenes where everything seemed mysterious and new.

HiT or Miss: “Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die” is a glorious mashup of social commentary and sci-fi silliness that doesn’t know to leave well enough alone.

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‘Untitled Home Invasion Romance’ Is ‘Fargo’ Lite

Sometimes flowers and candy just won’t cut it.

Jason Biggs’ character in “Untitled Home Invasion Romance” decides to revive his marriage by posing as a hero. Big mistake.

What follows is a crisp, occasionally funny black comedy that has no choice but to tie itself in knots. You might find some relationship wisdom lurking between the tale of a Romeo who’s in way over his head.

Biggs’ directorial debut is too complicated for his own good. The “American Pie” alum still displays a confident touch, suggesting his sophomore effort could be a keeper.

The film opens with a romantic montage of Biggs’ Kevin and Meaghan Rath’s Suzie falling in love.

One year later, that impulsive bond has fizzled. They reunite after a trial separation, and Kevin wants to jumpstart their marriage with a “Fargo”-seque scheme. He’s hired his actor buddy (a winning Arturo Castro) to break into their vacation home as a “burglar.”

Kevin would step in, thwart the robbery and show Suzie he’d do anything to protect her.

And … scene! It helps that Kevin is an actor, too, but he’s best known for starring in an ED commercial (the faux ad is legitimately funny).

Except nothing goes as planned. And, suddenly, the unhappy couple is staring at a dead body.

Biggs stages everything up until this point with impressive efficiency. We feel the fraying bond between the couple, Kevin’s obvious desperation and why criminal acts should be left to the professionals.

What happens next involves Suzie’s old camp buddy (Anna Konkle), now a local sheriff investigating that dead body, and Suzie’s old flame (Justin H. Min) offering his help.

And maybe more?

Check out an exclusive clip from Jason Biggs’ directorial debut movie, Untitled Home Invasion Romance.

The dark comedy is available to buy or rent on Digital starting January 27, 2026. pic.twitter.com/2Kx5MQhqlJ

— ComingSoon.net (@comingsoonnet) January 26, 2026

The laughs are intermittent but undeniable, and the small town touches prove sweet, not condescending. Some plot points are teased but eventually ignored, like the curious bond between Suzie and the Sheriff.

Biggs stumbles while balancing the various tones in play. It doesn’t help that secondary characters bum rush the third act in ways that spike the finale but feel manipulative.

He’s better at slowly revealing a key part of Suzie’s past, but the story doesn’t fully process what it means for the marriage in crisis.

“Romance” also can’t smooth over some of the moral quandaries flooding that third act. The screenplay, a solid affair from Jamie Napoli and Joshua Paul Johnson, has no time to process everything that happens in those last, frantic minutes.

Biggs is in over his head, but a Hitchcock or Demme might struggle with this material.

Still, Biggs and Rath keep the focus where it belongs, on a marriage that felt so perfect at first but looks headed for the rocks. Just know Biggs proves he’s ambitious enough behind the camera to suggest his career is leaning in a thoughtful new direction.

HiT or Miss: “Untitled Home Invasion Romance” may boast an awkward title, but its blend of comedy and black humor has its perks.

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‘Send Help’ Is the Very Best of Sam Raimi

Sam Raimi refuses to grow up. Let’s hope he never does.

The director behind the OG “Evil Dead” saga is back with “Send Help,” a delirious blend of terror, drama and Survival 101. And, in between, there’s plenty of unnecessary gore and bodily fluids.

See what we mean about never growing up?

It’s all expertly assembled, a story driven by two crackerjack turns and a narrative that refuses to play down to our expectations.

Socially awkward Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is an indispensable part of her company, but her business savvy doesn’t impress the new owner, Bradley Preston (Dylan O’Brien). He’s a Patrick Bateman type, smooth and soulless, eager to stomp on your feelings if it pleases him.

And, boy, does it ever.

Sure, Linda delivers the goods, but she’s not the kind of person you want in your golf foursome. She’s mousy and dull, the employee you avoid at the water cooler. Raimi stages these sorry facts for our bemusement, and Linda is so clueless we almost side with Bradley.

Almost. Not really. But she’s far from idealized, one way the film sidesteps any girlboss fears.

Bradley begrudingly invites her as part of an Asian business trip, but their plane short circuits mid-flight, killing most of the crew and passengers.

Linda and Bradley are the only survivors, washing up on a tropical island. And, as luck would have it, Linda is a survivalist junkie. She does more than watch that CBS reality show of the same name. She’s made it her passion to research how to stay alive in unforgiving climates.

Like a sun-blasted island that reeks of paradise.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Bradley is wounded and far less capable of fending for itself. Their dynamic has shifted, but how will that play out as the days drag on and no rescue boat appears?

We’ve already said too much, but there’s so much to savor in the rest of “Send Help” that it’s impossible to spoil it all. McAdams’ character blossoms on the island, relishing the chance to put her skills to use. Bradley is initially humbled by her chops, but he’s such a jerk that it may not last forever.

It’s a two-hander with tart dialogue, tart surprises and an ability to find fault in both characters. The film’s setup suggests a woke reversal, the evil capitalist at the mercy of the can-do office drone.

Yes … and no.

No lectures. No awkward conversations about The Patriarchy. Raimi lets the story speak for itself, and there’s plenty to be gleaned from Linda’s pre-crash predicament.

It makes everything that goes down on the island so much richer.

Raimi’s direction is taut and purposeful. He corrals his instincts enough to tell a logical story, but there’s always something in play to keep us engaged. Credit screenwriters Mark Swift and Damian Shannon for providing a structure that keeps the island activities grounded.

Even some of the sillier aspects of Linda’s survival training may make sense by the final minutes. The rest is up to Raimi, untethered by MCU guidelines or Comic-Con expectations. 

Welcome back.

HiT or Miss: “Send Help” isn’t the best movie of 2026, but it just might be the most fun.

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This Wasn’t Your Typical Take on ‘Hamlet’

Concept Shakespeare, in which plays by William Shakespeare are made contemporary or presented in stylized, potentially more accessible ways, are nothing new to theater, though it’s an unusual quality for motion pictures.

There are a few examples of motion pictures that tackled William Shakespeare’s work in an unorthodox, novel or gimmicky manner.

Jean-Luc Godard’s bonkers 1987 “King Lear” is barely interested in the source material, offers none other than Woody Allen, Molly Ringwald, Burgess Meredith and Godard himself giving half-invested performances and plays like a private joke that only made Godard laugh.

Far more mainstream, if unique for its time, was Baz Luhrman’s “William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet” (1996), in which Shakespeare’s character and dialog are interspersed with a modern setting and a kaleidoscopic, hyper-stylized MTV approach.

When it comes to “Hamlet,” arguably Shakespeare’s masterpiece and most performed work, most filmmakers either stick faithfully to the original text or use the narrative blueprint as a means to unfaithfully update the material and lose its beautiful language.

What Michael Almereyda’s 2000 film version of “Hamlet” has to offer is not a definitive interpretation of Shakespeare’s play. In fact, this is far from the most ideal, faithful version of the Bard’s two-act drama and is best viewed by those familiar with the story.

Newcomers may find the film perplexing and frustrating. For everyone else, particularly those familiar with “poor Yorick,” Rosencrantz and Guildenstern and infinitely quotable dialog like “The Play’s The Thing, Where Upon I’ll Catch the Conscience of the King,” this is something refreshing.

Opening in “New York City, 2000,” this “Hamlet” maintains the iambic pentameter (meaning, Shakespearean dialog) but is set in the last year of the 20th century. Taking place at “Hotel Elsinore” and portraying the events at “Denmark Corporation,” the tale of the Danish Prince is now an American yarn of businessmen who, literally, get blood on their hands.

Ethan Hawke plays Hamlet, now a tortured young amateur filmmaker whose wealthy mother Gertrude (Diane Venora) has re-married after the death of her husband (Sam Shepard). The Ghost of Hamlet’s father appears and informs his son that he was murdered by his wife’s new husband (Kyle MacLachlan).

Hamlet plots his revenge, dragging his secret love, Ophelia (Julia Stiles), down with him.

The cast is excellent. While this is Concept Shakespeare, no one is playing it that way, as everyone here is giving sincere, dedicated turns. Hawke is perfect, bringing his youthful, Gen-X teen angst to his portrayal.

Stiles is stronger than I expected as Ophelia and Liev Schrieber is first-rate as her brother, Laertes. Shepard is ideally cast and so is Steve Zahn, playing Rosencrantz as a barfly slacker.

Michael Almereyda’s HAMLET (2000) Starring Ethan Hawke, Julia Stiles, Sam Shepard, Kyle MacLachlan, Diane Venora, Bill Murray, and so many others.

Now playing on @criterionchannl in our Pop Shakespeare collection! https://t.co/vQzGa3zdVo pic.twitter.com/cHeoykl6Wu

— Criterion Collection (@Criterion) July 9, 2024

The biggest surprise is Bill Murray as Polonius: Murray isn’t a natural with Shakespearean prose and it shows. Instead, his self-styled performance, in which he plays the role as a bureaucratic suck-up, feels like Murray is adapting the language to his familiar persona.

It’s odd at first but fascinating to watch. Murray makes the role his own, even capping the “Look to it, I charge you” soliloquy by tying his daughter’s shoe.

There are other weird, post-modernist touches that bear mentioning. Hamlet gives his “To Be or Not To Be” speech while walking through the aisles of Blockbuster Video. As he broods from aisle to aisle, “The Crow: City of Angels” plays in the background.

The famous soliloquy has frequently been interpreted as a question of suicidal contemplation, something Hawke literalizes by opening the speech with a gun to his temple.

The Ghost of Hamlet’s Father vanishes into a Pepsi vending machine and, in a brilliant touch, “The Mouse Trap,” the play-within-the-play about Hamlet’s stepfather, is now a cheeky film-within-the-film.

Almereyda has made an experimental, weird but purposeful re-imagining. It has similarly deconstructive goals as Godard’s “King Lear” but maintains a clarity of theme and a fidelity to the source.

This low-budget and truncated yet still effective “Hamlet” is full of beauty and arrestingly different choices. Almereyda’s style is subtle, but he manages to find gorgeous imagery in unlikely places.

The one misstep is the climactic sword fight, which is now a rooftop sword match. It makes no sense having Hamlet brandish a gun but take on his opponent in a classical duel. While well-acted, this sequence is a dud and is the only one that could have used another unorthodox rethinking.

The artistic value of this “Hamlet” is that it’s distinctly Warhol-like, a reflection and dissection of established ideas and iconography of the source material, not a mere reproduction. Like a Warhol painting of an instantly recognizable individual, this begins with the expected, takes it apart and finds new ideas and a fresh staging of a durable, essential work of theater.

Kenneth Branagh’s three-hour, word-for-word 1996 adaptation, Laurence Olivier’s classic interpretation from 1948 or even Franco Zeffirelli’s exciting but questionable 1990 Mel Gibson version (where scenes were added) are better examples of faithful stage-to-screen adaptations that maintain the essence of the story.

Only Almereyda’s “Hamlet” offers the odd but one-of-a-kind pleasure of hearing Murray declare, “This Above All Else: To Thyself Be True.”

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‘We Bury the Dead’ Is Not Your Average Zombie Flick

“We Bury the Dead” is an atmospheric slow burn of a zombie movie, which some will accept with relief, while others instantly dismiss it while they line up for “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple.”

This new horror film, written and directed by Zak Hilditch, set in Tasmania and depicting a landscape of corpses suddenly showing life and aggression, isn’t quite the stinker the first week-of-January release date would lead one to believe.

It’s not scary enough for October and not exciting enough for summer, but it’s good enough to see at least once. The film is better than most of the dismal new fare that studios typically dump in theaters this time of year.

Daisy Ridley plays a grieving chiropractor who enters the zombified landscape in hopes of reconnecting with her missing husband. She meets a real wild card (Brenton Thwaites of “The Giver”) who helps her survive the dangerous terrain but can’t talk her out of pressing on into unpredictable landscapes with no safety in sight.

By giving this a Conrad-inspired “Heart of Darkness”/”Apocalypse Now” feel, of a journey in which the traveler is immersing herself into total madness, the story takes its time and lingers on the environment. Since the film is so gorgeously shot and full of striking vistas worth seeing on the big screen, the decision to be a slow-moving movie about slow-moving zombies mostly works.

Yet, the film exists in a world where no one has heard of zombies or seen a George A. Romero movie. What is awfully familiar to the viewer is new to the onscreen characters, creating monotony, as well as a murky threat: sometimes the zombies run but mostly they walk, and they don’t seem to be cannibals or much more than a nuisance.

So how are they a threat, aside from messily dropping pieces of themselves on the ground?

“We Bury the Dead” only seems partially invested in the zombies and more interested in using the horror genre to paint a metaphor for how we deal with loss. One of the best scenes involves a human helping a zombie bury his deceased family. The whole film is like that, emphasizing how humans deal with loss and mourning, with intermittent zombie sightings.

There are a few good jolts, the zombie make-up is excellent, and I cared about the protagonist, mostly due to how affecting Ridley is in the role. This is a far better vehicle for her than last January’s stink bomb, “Cleaner.”

A pivotal sequence, set in a farmhouse and reflecting on the loss of a marriage partner, is good at character building but it slows the whole movie down. Despite a fairly brisk running time, “We Bury the Dead” isn’t as quick on its feet as it ought to be.

A sequence where Ridley’s character must walk 40 miles on foot while carrying an axe isn’t just implausible- the movie is so laid back, you wonder if we’re going to watch her do it in real time (spoiler: we don’t).

“We Bury the Dead” reminded me of the equally impressive but not entirely memorable “It Comes at Night” (2017). The best version of this type of zombie subgenre (call is the Touchy Feely Zombie Movie) is “Maggie” (2015), the terrific, devastating zombie drama.

A farmer (Arnold Schwarzenegger, never better) discovers that his daughter (Abigail Breslin, who’s excellent) has been bitten by a zombie and has hours before she turns, but he refuses to give up on her. “Maggie” used the zombie scenario as a metaphor for being a parent with a dying child and the film hits hard.

“We Bury the Dead” should be more impactful, but it has some odd tonal changes, like a heart-to-heart confession suddenly interrupted by a rowdy pool party. The few moments of comic relief are welcome but, likewise, out of place for a film so downbeat.

A character tells Ridley to “use The Force,” a shoutout this doesn’t earn or need. “We Bury the Dead” is good enough to see once, but zombie fans will seek something meatier to chew on.

Two and a half stars (out of four)

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‘H Is for Hawk’ Will Catch Everyone Off Guard

Phillippa Lowthorpe’s “H is for Hawk” is an early 2026 sleeper, a nice surprise in a season typically full of post-yuletide filler.

Most January movies don’t stick around and leave no impression. Not this one.

Claire Foy stars as Helen MacDonald, an academic researcher who is devastated by the death of her father, played by Brendan Gleeson. By random chance, Helen is paired with a hawk, who she trains and keeps in her home.

Initially, this only adds to Helen’s personal struggles, but her breakthroughs in the training lead to a personal catharsis for them both. The film is based on a true story.

Foy gives a powerful performance, depicting how a new relationship with an animal can be a way to counter overwhelming grief.

Based on MacDonald’s 2014 memoir of the same name, “H is for Hawk” is another great showcase for Foy, a consistently terrific actress who has come close to stardom but has managed to make great choices and turn in one standout turn after another. Foy has been so good for so long, it’s always a pleasure to catch up with her latest work.

“H is for Hawk” is strikingly similar to “The Friend,” the 2025 drama about a writer (Naomi Watts) mourning the death of her best friend (Bill Murray), who, in his passing, gifts her his Great Dane, who becomes her closest companion. “The Friend” is my favorite film from last year and has scenes that are similar to what we have here.

Both films are about how a key mentor figure leaves the protagonist with a project/companion. Both films have ample flashbacks to keep the mentor in the story after they’ve died (Gleeson and Murray play deceased characters but have ample flashbacks and dramatically impactful scenes).

Just as Murray’s scenes in “The Friend” are flashbacks that reflect on the absence of his character, the sequences between Foy and Gleason showcase their gentle chemistry and demonstrate why Helen was so close to her father.

Another comparison, and easily the most complimentary, is that both films avoid being cutesy animal comedies or family farces with adorable reaction shots and poop gags. Neither film is a bummer, but both explore how a new, highly unusual friendship is preferable to being still and allowing grief to eat us alive.

Naomi Watts gives her ‘Friend’ a well-deserved bath.

Finally, like “The Friend,” “H is for Hawk” manages to be funny and smart without resembling a mechanical Disney feel-good comedy.

The scenes of Helen training her hawk, with the cinematography and editing in tour de force mode, are wonderful. Considering how much suspense the film generates just from having the hawk on Helen’s arm, the drama always resonates, and the training sequences are fascinating.

I enjoyed “H is for Hawk “a lot, but it could have been tighter and loses its grip when it meanders into other facets of Helen’s life. Still, I give the film credit for remaining entertaining and never becoming a schmaltzy, manipulative drag.

I prefer “The Friend” because it’s a tighter film, but this one matches it for emotional richness and is also worth seeing on the big screen.

Three Stars (out of four)

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