Most Jason Statham movies follow a similar script these days - there are numerous fight scenes, he kills a ton of bad guys, and he's out to get revenge on somebody who wronged him. In last years' The Beekeeper, these were played out perfectly in an extremely enjoyable film. Unfortunately, his new film A Working Man fails to capture the magic in the same way and will leave viewers disappointed.
Paired again with director David Ayer, A Working Man follows Levon Cade (Statham) as an ex-military commander who is tasked with rescuing his boss's kidnapped daughter. Although, the plot seems prime for a great action flick, the overall result is filled with bad acting, poor dialogue, and disappointing fight scenes.
Joining Statham is Gunny (David Harbour) who plays a blind former squad-mate of Cade's. To be fiar, Harbour is given very little to work with here. Not to mention it feels like the role could have been played by anyone. One particular scene has Gunny explaining different guns to Statham even though all of them are military-issued, which Cade should already know from his time in the service.
Michael Peña also plays the role of Cade's boss and is a poor fit for the role of a concerned father. His bellows of pain and concern are cringeworthy to say the least. Similar to Harbour, it feels like the role could have been played by any random actor and had the same effect due to the limited dialogue and screen time.
The real issue with the movie is the portrayal and acting by the numerous bad guys throughout the film. The movie constantly jumps between groups of villains that it's hard for us to dislike them other than the concept of they kidnapped Jenny (Arianna Rivas). Not counting the random one-off people Cade kills throughout the movie, we're asked to track the stories of 10 different "bad guys" and it leads to a blotted mess of a story.
The acting by Max Croes (Karp), Emmett J. Scanlan (Viper), and Eve Mauro (Artemis) is laughably bad and will leave you confused why they were cast into their specific roles. Karp and his fellow hitman Nestor (Ricky Champ) are seemingly introduced to be major foils for Statham but are quickly disposed of towards the end of the movie.
Ayer also tries to balance a parenting plot that falls flat on its face as the movie progresses. We're expected to side with Cade's character as he fights for custody of his daughter, but then he puts her in danger numerous times and showcases the exact flaws that his lawyer mentioned to him earlier in the film.
Even more so, Cade never truly seems in a rush to save Jenny during the film. He visits Gunny twice, seemingly takes days to investigate his numerous leads, and never rushes to save her even when he gets to the building where she's being hidden. Although I've never personally saved a kidnapping victim, I get the sense I'd at least use more urgency than someone heading to the mall to pick up new khakis.
The fight scenes will also leave people wanting more. We've seen better versions of each fight, especially in Statham movie's, and it felt like the crew was just walking through the motions. None of the fights are particularly memorable and there isn't one moment that'll make you feel like you're seeing something new. This may be the most disappointing part of the whole movie as Ayer had numerous engaging and fun fight sequences and kills in The Beekeeper.
By the end of the film, you'll be left wondering how A Working Man got made without someone saying "Hey, this movie isn't good." and wishing you had spent the two hours watching a better action flick. Here's to hoping that Statham can bounce back quickly and give us the type of movie we've all come to expect from him.
A Working Man is now playing in theaters.