Professional’s Ranking
Our Verdict
Jason Statham’s newest movie left me grinning from ear to ear, and never for the suitable causes. A Working Man is self-aware of its ridiculousness… to some extent. When you don’t like hilariously dangerous motion pictures, this isn’t for you.
Finest Pricing In the present day
Jason Statham walks right into a room and shakes the hand of a imply drug seller who sits on a throne made of bike elements and a steel cranium. The seller seems down at their clasped palms and exclaims, “Have a look at these bricks. You ain’t a cop, you’re a working man.”
It’s this kind of nuanced dialogue that units the scene for this actually, actually abysmal motion movie. And but, I can’t assist however consider Maximus in Gladiator as he bellows “Are you not entertained?!”, as a result of… I used to be.
I hysterically giggled my manner by way of most of A Working Man. I’m not sure if that was director David Ayer’s intention, however that was my fact. I lately made enjoyable of Reacher for taking liberties with its story, and after seeing this, I’d wish to ship alongside a proper apology to Amazon as a result of the craziness can’t even examine.
Minor spoilers for A Working Man beneath
So, what is that this new flick all about? Statham stars as Levon Cade, a reputation I needed to lookup because it was barely referenced. However like many issues on this movie, it doesn’t matter. All it’s worthwhile to know is that he’s a former army man turned development employee, and he’s on a mission to take down human traffickers.
“I can’t consider they bought away with making a movie like that!” – Nameless pal of reviewer
The story begins throughout a traditional day at work when two employed goons present up and threaten one of many builders. When Statham intervenes, the pair threaten him. Huge mistake. He picks up a bucket of screws and throws them on the assailants, which additionally occurs to be straight down the digital camera lens. As quickly as I noticed that shot, I knew what I used to be in for, and I couldn’t wait.
The driving drive behind Statham’s quest is to rescue his boss’s daughter, Jenny Garcia (Arianna Rivas). The pair share the briefest bonding second discussing the army, and as a father himself, Statham is aware of the significance of household.
Dan Smith / Warner Bros.
Not even 24 hours after Garcia is kidnapped, we see two cops present up on website. When Statham goes to see the mother and father, they’re already attempting to shove hundreds of {dollars} in money at him to take this mission into his personal palms. We haven’t even seen them speak to the police but – they haven’t even tried!
All I can assume is that on this universe, a lot of the Chicago Police Division are on annual depart, and those left are incompetent. There are lots of high-profile, loud acts of violence in A Working Man, together with two males killed by a shotgun in a block of flats and one van plummeting right into a river. However do any of them result in somebody calling the cops? After all not.
However I’ll let you know who’s all the time on the scene – the Russian mafia. Sure. Essentially the most stereotypical villains in Hollywood that each you and I believed couldn’t be made these days.
And so they’re not attempting to mix in in any respect. The second-tier goons on this movie put on head-to-toe gaudy designer tracksuits with bucket hats – one in pink and one in blue, so you possibly can bear in mind which one is which. Once more, it doesn’t matter.
“Finest movie I’ve ever seen, palms down.” – Sarcastic man from row in entrance
The large boss of the Russian mafia (or ‘The Brotherhood’ because it was referenced a number of instances, however I nonetheless can’t let you know why that’s) dons a fur-trimmed coat and walks round monologuing evilly. His identify is Wolo Kolisnyk, and he’s performed by Jason Flemyng.
Later, we uncover that there’s a good greater boss above him. I held my breath, able to see who this might probably be… solely to search out out it was one other Russian man – Symon Kharchenko – with a black coat, hat and cane, performed by Andrej Kaminsky.
However you possibly can relaxation assured that none of those moustache-twirling villains are any risk to Statham, who makes it by way of seemingly unimaginable conditions unscathed. Throughout one sequence, he’s using a motorbike as no less than three folks shoot machine weapons at him from vans. Fortunately, our hero has strong plot armour that retains him protected from any stray bullets.
I can’t argue with the truth that there are many kickass motion sequences on this movie – the hits are virtually deafening, and the violence is delivered in droves. However each element round these set items is an afterthought.
Dan Smith / Warner Bros.
In a single scene, Statham seemingly beats each man to a pulp within the throne room. Or no less than, I believed he did. After he has a dialog with seller Dutch (Chidi Ajufo), he turns again round, and everybody he simply battled with is simply… standing there, fully cool. I noticed a number of folks throw their palms within the air in disbelief throughout this second.
This screenplay is by David Ayer and Sylvester Stallone, and I’m prepared to guess that not a single lady was concerned in the course of the writing course of. There are a number of cases the place a villain shall be sitting doing one thing necessary, as his spouse/girlfriend tries to get his consideration. To affirm that he’s dangerous, the male character will give her a giant slap, after which we don’t hear something from that lady once more.
There are feminine characters with a bit extra substance, however the actresses sadly can not save the fabric they’ve been given. Jenny Garcia has simply sufficient spunk in her that she ticks the field of what a movie producer deems as progressive, whereas villain Artemis (Eve Mauro) spends a lot of the latter half of the movie effing and blinding so we all know she’s robust and never a lot else.
“Why… simply why?” – Man in disbelief sat subsequent to writer
The rating of A Working Man can be… a selection. Each scene has some stereotypically on-the-nose music that feels fully unwarranted. The opening on the development website options rousing strings designed to amplify Statham’s motto of teamwork, whereas a scene at a saloon is supported by a finger-clicking up to date nation quantity.
My questions on this film are countless. Why is the enhancing so uneven? Who have been all these folks going to an evil on line casino? Did David Harbour actually add something to this movie as Statham’s blind pal? Why was the moon so large in the course of the forest chase scenes? Say it with me, people: It. Doesn’t. Matter!
What I’ll give Warner Bros. and MGM credit score for is that they appear self-aware about what this film is. On the screening, all of the workers have been wearing high-vis jackets, whereas the social media workforce have created a LinkedIn profile for Statham in help of this new launch.
No, A Working Man is actually not a very good movie. Nevertheless it doesn’t must be.
Dan Smith / Warner Bros.
Do you have to watch A Working Man?
My sister requested whether or not she would love this movie as I messaged her about my response, and honestly… I needed to say sure. As a result of I do know she’ll have a very good time.
There’s a crowd on the market for this – and it’s not simply Statham film-nuts who loved The Beekeeper. My pal and I have been in stitches because the credit of A Working Man rolled, and neither of us noticed it as a wasted night time.
On my honour as knowledgeable reviewer, I can’t in good conscience give it an honest ranking attributable to its trash story, distractingly terrible rating and offensively dangerous stereotypes. However if you need a comedy (I don’t suppose that was intentional) with some senseless motion thrown in, then be my visitor.
A Working Man drops in cinemas tomorrow, Friday 28 March 2025. When you’re within the UK, you may get tickets from Cineworld, Vue and Odeon. These in America can get them from AMC Theatres, Fandango and Atom Tickets.