Redemption

Cast of Characters:

Joseph Jones - Jason Statham

Sister Cristina - Agata Buzek

Director - Steven Knight

Screenplay - Steven Knight

Rated R for strong brutal violence, graphic nudity and language

      Jason Statham stars in the directorial debut of Academy Award nominated screenwriter Steven Knight, Redemption (aka Hummingbird in the United Kingdom).

      Following a traumatic tour of duty in Afghanistan, ex-Royal Marine Joseph Jones (Jason Statham) returns to his home in Great Britain. Unable to get his life back on track, he winds up broken down and homeless. After receiving a beatdown by a group of thugs, Jones makes an attempt to reinvent himself. He breaks into another man's apartment, assuming his identity, then seeks the aid of Sister Cristina (Agata Buzek), a young nun working at an inner-city parish.

      It's not too long after that Joseph's military training comes in handy down in London's criminal underworld, playing the enforcer for a Chinese mobster. Upon learning that his missing girlfriend was murdered, he takes it upon himself to avenge her death, hoping that it can offer him one last chance to redeem himself.

      Upon seeing an advertisement for this film, I was looking forward to seeing this. Any film that doesn't require Statham to hide behind a number of stunts, in my mind, is a movie worth checking out. The problem though is that this film doesn't add up to much. There's not enough in the story for the viewer to invest in, and the characters aren't fleshed out enough to where we can really care about the situations they find themselves in. Any moments that do verge on being inspired (for instance, Jones trying to reconnect with his young daughter) are few and far between. This reminded me a lot of last year's disappointing Killing Them Softly with Brad Pitt. For every scene that bordered on greatness, it was followed by one that lagged and ultimately fell flat. What's most disappointing about this script is that it was written by Steven Knight, who wrote two fantastic films prior to this, Dirty Pretty Things (for which he received an Oscar nomination) and Eastern Promises.

      Jason Statham, more often than not, tends to get typecast in mindless action flicks that amount to nothing (Death Race, The Transporter films, Crank). It's really a shame considering if you've ever seen Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch, and the terribly underrated The Bank Job, you know how great of an actor Statham can be. Even The Expendables films were great entertainment. I gotta say, in spite of the weak script, here he's actually quite good. The weakness lies in the script, and I expected better from a writer like Knight. I wanna recommend this, but at the end of the day, I can't quite do that other than maybe say wait for a rental. Throw in The Bank Job too if you do so. Seriously, if you haven't seen that film, definitely check it out. I give Redemption a C (★★½).