'Shelter' - Tense journey of survival and redemption

JASON Statham stars in his latest action thriller that will be catnip to his many loyal fans.

Ric Roman Waugh, a former stuntman known for his work with Gerard Butler, directs a script by Ward Parry.

Statham of course rarely strays from the well-worn path of action flicks featuring gruff tough guys, usually with a Special Forces background, called back into action against their will.

The texture of his films is so familiar by now they might as well be their own genre. His latest effort is no doubt an exercise in pure formula but for the most part none the worse for it.

This is slick, punchy fare for action aficionados.

Statham plays Michael Mason a taciturn ex-Royal Marine manning a disused lighthouse in the Outer Hebrides.

It is a lonely existence, with only a German Shepard and choppy waters for company.

An old friend of Mason occasionally comes to the remote island to bring supplies, accompanied by his niece Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach). One day a storm whips up and leaves the boat stricken.

Mason jumps into action and manages to save Jessie but her uncle perishes.

It’s left to Mason to nurse the injured Jessie back to health but the two initially don’t see eye to eye.

He realises that an infected wound on her leg requires medicine and so travels to the mainland to get it.

As Mason enters the nearest town, he is picked up by a clandestine government surveillance system.

This is brought to the attention of spy chief Manafort (a game Bill Nighy), Mason’s former handler in an elite assassin squad known as the Black Kites.

Wanting to get rid of loose ends, he orders Mason be liquidated. Realising that he and Jessie are in danger, Mason sets out to protect the girl from a past that looks determined to come back to haunt him.

It’s as regular as clockwork now that a Jason Statham movie will be released around this time of year. January and February tend be quiet times for cinemas so studios will release a film by the tried and tested star in the knowledge it will make a tidy profit on a medium budget.

Shelter will likely be no different. Just as regularly, it does not stray far from the established formula of Statham’s action vehicles.

In fact, it bears a strong resemblance to Statham’s 2012 film Safe, in which he also has to protect a young girl from dark forces.

It’s not quite on the level as that underrated film but it is a significant improvement over last year’s disappointing A Working Man.

All in all, this is as solid as solid can be. Anyone looking for a fun Friday night at the movies will be more than happy. A lean and taut action film with a zero pretentions, the film works as well as it does because it knows what its star brings to the table.

Though the plot sometimes strains credibility to breaking point, narrative shortcomings are disguised by solid, hard-edged action and Statham’s grumpy charisma.

It may not be anything you haven’t seen before but it proves satisfying to see it down with such unapologetic precision.

Shelter doesn’t find its star breaking new ground but it does find him in typically imperious form.

RATING: ***

Matthew McCaul