jon_anderson77

This movie is so bizarre. The plot feels like it was written by a child and the humour matches. That said it's an oddly compelling farce and the two leads keep you watching despite the utter nonsense happening on screen. Oh to have been a writer in the 80s when a screenplay like this would have been green lit and given you a career in Hollywood. Today of course it would not be given the time of day as frankly A. I could write a better buddy comedy than this. I think this movie had more success in the U. S due to repeats on TV and it's become a bit of a cult favourite for some, id imagine with the college stoner crowd. Stay of the dugs kids.

If you're anything like me, A Working Man starring Jason Statham is the kind of unapologetically hard-hitting action flick you didn't realize you were craving until the credits rolled and you were already hoping for a sequel.

Directed by David Ayer, this film delivers exactly what it promises: grit, gunfire, and a relentless protagonist who punches his way through a Russian crime syndicate. Jason Statham plays Levin Cade, a no-nonsense former black-ops specialist turned blue-collar labourer who gets dragged back into the shadows when his bosses daughter disappears in bizarre circumstances. The plot kicks off with a run in with some gang members at his job site, and before long, Levin finds himself embroiled in a war with a gang of Russian sex traffickers, mysterious, eerily pale criminals who lets face it look and dress like the undead. Ayer, whether intentionally or not, has given us something that could quite easily pass as a vampire movie. Every single bad guy in this film acts like a bloodsucker. They only come out at night and they dress in garish almost period outfits or leather. One guy even gets dispatched in a way that suspiciously resembles someone getting staked through the heart. If someone told me this was originally written as a Blade sequel that got repurposed, I'd believe it. All it's missing is fangs, a few CGI dust clouds and a Wesley Snipes in full day walker mode.

Statham is at his clichéd best here-grizzled, grimacing, and always five seconds away from unleashing hell. The film smartly leans into his strengths, giving him minimal dialogue and maximum carnage. Every punch he throws feels like it could shatter a cinder block. The supporting cast is equally tight, with Jason Flemyng, Michael Pena & David Harbour taking low key supporting roles.

Critics, as expected, have rolled their eyes at the film's relentless action, sparse plot, and "cliché" dialogue. But let's be honest-what they hate is exactly what we, the paying audience, love. A Working Man is a glorious throwback to the no-holds-barred action cinema of the '80s and '90s. It's a revenge thriller that gives a nod to so many films that have come before and it doesn't try to be anything else. There's no lecture, no deeper meaning, no drawn-out existential drama. Just a man, his fists, his weapons, and a whole lot of bad guys who may or may not drink blood in their spare time.

This film wears its retro heart on its sleeve, and in an age of CGI-saturated 200 million dollar budget fatigue, it's refreshing to watch something that's gritty, grounded, and just a little bit low brow. If Ayer had a slightly bigger special effects budget and leaned into some vampiric lore he could easily direct a new Blade movie or similar action horror.

In short: I loved it. I grinned through every explosion, winced at every crunch of bone. A Working Man knows exactly what it is, and that's why it works so well.

Here's hoping the sequel gets the green light, and if you are listening Hollywood, maybe they just go ahead and give Ayer a shot at a vampire flick in the meantime. We're ready.