Jason Statham emerged in the 2000s as a leading action hero in Hollywood, as well as a recurring face in Guy Ritchie’s movies. Known for his cockney accent, perpetual stubble, and martial arts skills, Statham quickly became a fan-favorite action hero of the 21st century. Through his best movies, he earned a spot alongside the likes of Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris, and Bruce Willis as a safe bet for good action.
Jason Statham continues to be a reliable source of fun action stories as he’s joined the Fast and Furious franchise, while also being a mainstay in Sylvester Stallone’s Expendables movies. Ranging from comedy to gritty action, the actor has shown an impressive amount of range for his signature genre and has starred in some of cinema’s most bizarre and unique projects. For fans who want to enjoy some fun entertainment, Statham’s movies are a good place to go.
Revolver Is A Stylish Drama/Thriller
By no means is Revolver the best Guy Ritchie movie, but it does have one of the director’s more unique styles, as it merges elements of neo-noir with drama. The film follows Statham in the leading role as Jake Green, a man recently released from prison who makes an enemy out of a former associate.
Revolver follows Green as he plays off all sides of an intricate web of characters against one another, from loan sharks and assassins to a casino boss. The movie is best appreciated after a second viewing and focuses on the idea of Green becoming the ultimate con man.
The Mechanic Movies Honor A Classic Charles Bronson Story
Based on the classic Charles Bronson movie of the same name, The Mechanic follows an elite assassin, Arthur Bishop, who trains the son of a friend — whom he killed — to become like him. After taking him under his wing, Bishop realizes that his new protégé, Steve, is too unstable to ever be like him, while also realizing he was tricked into killing his old friend.
The Mechanic follows Bishop as he trains Steve, taking him along on some of his missions, fighting to keep him under control. The movie’s 2016 sequel was a brilliant follow-up to the story, with Bishop being forced by an old associate to carry out a new series of high-risk missions to save a woman from his wrath.
The Bank Job Peels Back The Curtain Of British High Society
Based on a true story, The Bank Job casts Statham in the role of a bank robber, Terry, hired by an old acquaintance, Martine, to steal the contents of a safe deposit box in a bank. The box in question contains compromising pictures of a member of the royal family. After assembling a group of thieves to break into the bank by tunneling beneath the vault, Terry and his crew become the target of gangsters and intelligence services alike.
The Bank Job combines elements of political scandal with gangster thriller as each of the members of Terry’s crew gets captured or killed by enforcers and henchmen of London’s most powerful. The movie is a good look at the shady side of London’s elite and the lengths they’d go to to protect their secrets.
The Italian Job Rebooted An Iconic Heist Movie
The original Italian Job is known for many things, ranging from an interesting cast of characters to a fun chase sequence, but its cliffhanger ending left fans wanting for decades. In 2003, the movie was given a soft reboot and a sequel rolled into one, with Statham cast as one of the main characters, Handsome Rob.
The Italian Job follows its small band of master thieves after they’re betrayed by one of their members, leading them to hatch a plan to get back at him and steal his gold. The movie is a great homage to the original, with great use of car chases and fast-paced action leading up to its heist.
Ghosts of Mars Is Zombie Horror On The Red Planet
Ghosts of Mars is one of John Carpenter’s most under-appreciated movies due to it never gaining cult status like his ’80s hits. Set on a terraformed Mars in the future, the movie follows a small band of elite Marshals tasked with transporting an outlaw from a small mining town back to the city. However, when they reach the town, the Marshals realize the population has been taken over by horrifying spirit-like beings, who have changed them into bloodthirsty killers.
In Ghosts of Mars, Statham is cast as one of the film’s secondary protagonists, the Marshal Jericho. The movie is a brilliant combination of science fiction and isolated horror in the vein of projects like The Hills Have Eyes. With the heroes cobbling together a band of survivors, they fight their way out of the town.
The Expendables 2 Is The Team’s Best Mission To Date
The Expendables franchise was created by Sylvester Stallone with a very simple and brilliant hook: It assembled almost every major action star from cinema under one banner. With a line-up that includes Stallone, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Bruce Willis, and Terry Crews, Statham was cast as Lee Christmas, Barney Ross’ second-in-command.
The Expendables franchise is great viewing for fans of classic action cinema as the films follow Barney Ross’ band of mercenaries in a variety of missions. The best entry of the series, the second movie, follows the team as they take on a hardened arms dealer after he murders one of the group.
Hobbs And Shaw Added A Buddy Cop Dynamic To Fast And The Furious
Spinning out of the Fast and Furious movies, Hobbs and Shaw follows Luke Hobbs and Deckard Shaw as they’re forced to team up to prevent a virus from falling into the hands of terrorists. With Shaw’s sister, a tough MI6 agent, infected with the virus to prevent its use, the trio take on the organization Eteon and its cybernetically-enhanced soldiers.
Hobbs and Shaw took the action franchise to a new, sci-fi-themed level as the two titular heroes form a mismatched, buddy cop-style partnership. With Statham returning to his role as Deckard Shaw, the movie remains one of the actor’s highest-grossing projects.
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Is A Fun Cockney Gangster Movie
The plot of Guy Ritchie’s breakout movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels begins when a young London man, Eddy, loses a high-stakes poker game to a local gangster. With his three friends all with their own money in the hole, Eddy sets in motion a plan to steal the £500,000 he owes the gangster.
Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels follow Eddy and his friends, including Statham in the role of Bacon, as everything goes wrong in their harebrained scheme to steal the cash. With a local enforcer on their back, as well as a rival gang of local thugs looking for them, the group stumbles through London and falls into good luck when their troubles are unexpectedly cleared.
Snatch Is Guy Ritchie’s Best Story
Widely considered to be Guy Ritchie’s greatest movie, as well as a gangster classic, Snatch follows a series of characters as they become intertwined in a plot of a stolen diamond and a rigged boxing match. Primarily following Jason Statham in his role as Turkish, a boxing manager in debt to a London gangster named Brick Top, things take a turn when an Irish boxer refuses to throw his fight — landing Turkish in hot water.
Snatch is as much a brilliant comedy movie as it is a gangster thriller, with Ritchie’s signature style of alternating between a group of seemingly unrelated sub-plots holding everything together. With an eccentric cast of characters of varying levels of incompetence, the movie is a must-watch for Statham fans as one of the breakout roles in his career.
The Transporter Gave Statham His Most Iconic Role
Of all Statham’s movies, none are as definitive in his career as his role as Frank Martin in The Transporter series. Focusing on an elite driver tasked with anything from getaway driver to specialized courier, the first movie follows Frank as he’s roped into a criminal plot when he rescues one of his “packages,” a young woman named Lai.
The Transporter follows Frank and Lai as they fight to survive the repeated attacks from the criminal gang, who are intent on recovering Lai. When it’s revealed that Lai’s father is head of a people smuggling business and he takes his daughter hostage, Frank springs into action to save her.