Hummingbird (2013) (aka: Redemption) starring Jason Statham, Senem Temiz, Vicky McClure, Agata Buzek, Chris Cowlin directed by Steven Knight Movie Review

Hummingbird (2013)   3/53/53/53/53/5


Jason Statham in Hummingbird (2013) (aka: Redemption)

Statham's Avenging Angel

Having served in the army Joey (Jason Statham) returned from service overseas a psychologically damaged man forced to go on the run as he faced a court martial for use of excessive force and going AWOL. But having become a mess, living rough on the streets a turn of events allow him to regain a period of stability and to use not just the stability but also his skills to first find works as an enforcer for the Chinese mob in London but also helps others, especially a nun called Cristina (Agata Buzek) who cared for Joey when he was down on his luck.

"Hummingbird" has a problem, it stars Jason Statham but it doesn't follow the simplistic nature of most of a typical Jason Statham movie with instead a narrative which seems to jump around a bit, forcing you to try and put it together in some sort of sequence to make sense of it whilst filling in the intentional gaps. Basically it doesn't treat the audience as if they are morons but expects them to be able to follow a storyline which often requires you to read between the lines whilst also waiting for aspects of it to be revealed.

Agata Buzek in Hummingbird (2013) (aka: Redemption)

The thing is that if you watch "Hummingbird" and spend time to piece it together you begin to realise that much of it is typical Statham with him playing a special forces soldier who returned home with psychological issues that terrorize him but with an ability to kick some serious butt. On top of that this is a man willing to work for the corrupt but he is a champion of the good guy especially a nun who took care of him when he was homeless and now he tries to help in a variety of ways including ordering a load of takeaway pizzas for her to feed the homeless with. But again because of the more creative styling and narrative people who tune in expecting a typical slice of Jason Statham action may end up struggling.

In fact director Steven Knights control and styling helps to make "Hummingbird" some thing more than just another Jason Statham movie and he manages to do a good job of bring out the intrigue both in the story line as well as the characters which is not something I have written about a Jason Statham movie in a very long time. In fact Statham delivers one of his most controlled performances I have seen in a long time allowing less to become more to make his character interesting rather than just another kick butt action man.

What this all boils down to is that "Hummingbird" is a very good Jason Statham movie except it is not an entirely typical Jason Statham movie as it expects the audience to be able to follow a story which takes time to unfold whilst also asking them to read between the gaps and expect more than just action from Statham.


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