In almost all his movies, Jason Statham does, well, Jason Statham things.
He’s gruff. He’s charming. He has an unmistakable Cockney accent and distinctive barely-there buzzcut. Yes, we’re talking about action legend Jason Statham.
Statham has starred in many movies during his two-decade career, but many of his characters share similarities and are essentially different variations of one another. When you watch a Jason Statham movie, you can tell it’s a Jason Statham movie.
Statham’s latest film, A Working Man, features the actor doing what he does best and possesses distinctly recognisable Statham tropes. Here are five recurring elements in his movies, some of which are also present in A Working Man.
1) Out For Vengeance
Like many action heroes, revenge is a common motivator for Statham’s roles. A Working Man features Statham’s character avenging the kidnapping of his boss’ daughter, and in The Beekeeper, his previous collaboration with director David Ayer, Statham’s character avenges his elderly neighbour who fell victim to scammers. In The Mechanic, Statham’s Arthur Bishop is an assassin seeking vengeance for his late mentor, Harry (Donald Sutherland). That action thriller is a remake of the 1972 movie of the same name starring Charles Bronson, who is arguably the king of revenge flicks.
2) Hard Hitter
“Just because the rest of the people in Hollywood don’t do their stunts doesn’t mean I don’t,” Statham told Entertainment Weekly in 2011 while promoting Killer Elite. Not surprising for someone who has often stated his admiration for Bruce Lee, saying Lee’s movies are his “ultimate favourite”.
Statham began learning martial arts recreationally in his youth while working at his father Barry’s market stall in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk. Statham’s martial arts expertise reportedly includes kickboxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Wing Chun kung fu, karate, judo, boxing, Muay Thai, and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). He has showcased his fighting skills in movies, including the Transporter franchise.
Statham even held his own when starring alongside legendary martial arts movie star Jet Li in The One and War (aka Rogue Assassin) and appearing opposite Iko Uwais and Tony Jaa in Expend4bles.
3) Pedal to the Metal
Statham has played many drivers, including in the Transporter series, The Italian Job, Death Race, and the Fast & Furious franchise. When asked by IndieLondon about how much of his own stunt driving he did on The Transporter 2, Statham replied: “I did as much as they’d allow me because that’s my favourite stuff, you know? Always as a kid, I dreamt of being a Formula One driver.”
Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw features a hair-raising car chase through an industrial facility. “It’s Jason driving,” director David Leitch told The New York Post. “Because he’s so good, we felt comfortable putting him in that position.”
4) Deep Dives
Before becoming an actor, Statham was a professional diver, being a member of the British National Swimming Squad for 12 years and representing England at the Commonwealth Games in 1990. Several movies have taken advantage of his expertise, most notably The Meg and its sequel, Meg 2: The Trench, which feature demanding underwater action sequences.
In Mechanic: Resurrection, Statham directly references his athletic past when he dives off a cliff after escaping from a Malaysian prison. He also falls from a height into the water in Spy after dangling from a helicopter over the ocean (or, more accurately, dangling from Melissa McCarthy, who is dangling from a helicopter).
Statham’s diving experience also saved his life: during a test run for a stunt in The Expendables 3, the brakes on a truck that Statham was driving malfunctioned, plunging into the Bulgarian Black Sea. Statham’s holster got caught on the seatbelt, but he escaped.
5) Number One Guy
Director Guy Ritchie discovered Statham while the latter was working as a model for fashion label French Connection UK. Ritchie cast Statham in the 1998 crime comedy thriller Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels as conman Bacon, based on Statham’s past as a street vendor. Statham and Ritchie then collaborated on Snatch, Revolver, Wrath of Man, and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre. “We still kept this same sort of youthful stupidity that we bring to the working day … if we didn’t enjoy ourselves as much as we did, I don’t think we would have succeeded like we had,” Statham told Rotten Tomatoes about reuniting with Ritchie for Wrath of Man (14 years after their previous collaboration Revolver).
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