Jason Statham is almost eclipsed by an unlikely co-star in Shelter

Jason Statham knows what fans want from his films – impressive action, gruff one-liners and a talented supporting cast – and with Shelter he’s also thrown a beautifully appealing dog into the mix.

In 2024’s The Beekeeper they damaged his hive; you can imagine what the stakes are when faithful pooch Jack is put in danger.

Shelter had all the ingredients to be a stand-out Statham, ready to join the hall of famers like his early Guy Ritchie movies, Crank and his well-received comedy deviation for 2015’s Spy.

It sadly doesn’t quite make it to the highest echelons though, with the dialogue collapsing further into clichés as the movie continues before it ends with an unsatisfying fizzle out like screenwriter Ward Parry couldn’t quite stick the landing.

However, there is still plenty for fans to enjoy – including a cracking double act between Statham and his co-star Bodhi Rae Breathnach – as long as you’re prepared to accept its limits.

Shelter, directed by Angel Has Fallen’s Ric Roman Waugh, starts with Breathnach’s Jesse and her uncle delivering supplies to the hostile (and at the time, nameless) Michael Mason (Statham), who otherwise lives an isolated life in an old-fashioned lighthouse on an island in the Outer Hebrides.

In case you didn’t get the memo, he wants to be left alone with his dog (again, did I mention what a good boy this dog is?). But when a boat accident puts him in charge of Jesse – and gives former Olympian Statham the chance to show off a perfectly executed dive – Mason starts to thaw, and speak, ever so slightly.

Until then, a lot of Statham’s stoic and mostly silent brand of acting had been well supported by David Buckley’s tense soundtrack, pulsing quietly beneath.

However, Mason’s shadowy past puts the pair of them in danger when MI6 acts on a high priority warning that matches him with a deadly threat on their database after he heads out to the nearest town to buy medical supplies.

In one of Shelter’s most satisfying sequences, we get to see how an ex-military man who operated at the highest levels might booby-trap his lighthouse and beach – we’re talking nets, boulders and heavy metal hooks.

Mason must then flee with Jesse, evading police, MI6 forces sent by second-in-command Roberta (Naomi Ackie) and a deadly tier one asset intercepted by the intelligence service’s chief (Bill Nighy), who appears to have a personal vendetta against Mason.

Breathnach, who just made her film debut in Hamnet as Shakespeare’s daughter Susanna, is a real star in the making, confidently handling a lot of being frightened and confused with real range and raw talent.

Jesse and Mason’s relationship at the heart of Shelter is one of the best aspects of the film, propelling most of the action and making it a movie that could stand up to repeat viewings.

It’s a shame that the rest of the film’s characters suffer in comparison, barely distinguished from their stock types despite the wealth of talent that’s been pulled in. Dame Harriet Walter even (briefly) plays the UK prime minister, for goodness’ sake!

Daniel Mays pops up as a sympathetic associate from Mason’s past who’s little more than a plot device, while Ackie seems robbed of a proper conclusion with Roberta when more of her character could have upped the intrigue ante even more.

Even Nighy, who is as reliable as ever, starts to struggle when it comes to describing Statham’s Mason as ‘a precision instrument’, while also chastising his colleague with the likes of, ‘Damn it Roberta, some just can’t help themselves!’.

However, strong stunt and fight sequences (be prepared to wince when Statham picks up that nail gun), as well as the central duo, go quite some way to redeeming the film. And Statham one hundred per cent knows a winning formula by now when he sees one.

Shelter is released in UK cinemas on Friday, January 30.

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