Jason Statham Comes in From the Cold
DIRECTED BY RIC ROMAN WAUGH/2026
It may be saddled with a placeholder-ish title and the its plot extremely over-familiar, but Shelter, the latest Jason Statham-led actioner, also has the benefit of being directed by a former stuntman. Since his days of risking life and limb for the likes of The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Last Action Hero (1993) director, Ric Roman Waugh has since helmed smaller-scale rock ‘em-sock ‘ems for bigger-scale stars. For example, Dwayne Johnson’s 2013 wronged trucker vehicle, Snitch. Or, Gerard Bultler in Angel Has Fallen (2019). Or, Gerard Butler in Greenland (2020). Or, Gerard Butler in the weirdly recent Greenland 2: Migration (2026). With the fate of that titular territory all the rage, Waugh’s project choices might appear more real-world prescient than the average action film .
Shelter is here to disprove that. Not that it matters one smidge in the film’s bottom line purpose statement (and I don’t mean the movie’s ultra-generic tagline, “Her safety. His mission”, though it is certainly indicative of the kind of “maximum efficiency with minimal expenditure” model of these types of films), but the plot of Shelter feels beyond stale. Bill Nighy plays a lifelong MI-6 higher-up who’s aggressively championing newfangled surveillance-state technology. Not nearly as all-encompassing as The Entity from the last two Mission: Impossibles, but a step above The Dark Knight’s smartphone hack, this glorified app enables Nighy’s beaurocrat to discover the whereabouts of the one man he needs to stay dead.
That man is ex-Royal Marine Michael Mason, played by a dour Jason Statham. Which brings us to the truly buried lede (lead?) of this review, as it’s one-hundred percent Statham (not the director, certainly not the plot) that’s going to incline anyone to watch this film. And, true to form, the man absolutely delivers the goods. Shelter fully hinges on Statham’s proven talent to play relatable quiet, male vulnerability throughout; only in the final third do we get to see him break out some of his slick, quick martial arts moves.
The first twenty or so minutes find Mason as a longtime Scottish isle seaside hermit, all alone sans his nice dog. With zero connection to the outside world, it might as well not be the 21st or even 20th century at all. He passes the time doing detailed charcoal drawings, playing chess against himself, and nervously monitoring the ocean for invaders. Strictly no visitors for this gruff man of mystery. Before long, we learn why: a decade earlier, Mason opted not to carry out an ordered assassination- move that sent him into exile. When Bill Nighy’s cameras find Mason, the hunt is on. Many butts will be swiftly kicked.
One very important detail in Shelter is that just before all hell breaks loose, Mason winds up tasked with nurturing a former cohorts tween daughter (Bodhi Rae Breathnach, holding her own amid the clatter and din) back from a nasty injury. Honestly, writing this review a mere 48 hours after having seen the film, I can’t recall much if anything in the way of further plot specifics. What matters here is that Statham and Breathnach demonstrate easy chemistry, making this whole competent but not memorable movie click.
Shelter (and your guess is as good as mine as to why that’s its title) has the audacity/slipperiness to start off as a methodically-paced near-mediation, and remain so for an extended period. Then, in the most clunky, out-of-nowhere way possible, we’re dropped in the middle of an official hearing at MI-6 in London as Naomi Ackie and company debate Nighy’s intrusive surveillance tech. It’s truly as though we’ve suddenly switched movies. Later, more effectively, the action will take us to a crowded and thumping dance club. It’s a good Statham action sequence, to be sure. Never let it be said that Shelter spares any storms.