Director: Steven Knight.
Starring: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Victoria Bewick.
Running Time: 100 minutes.
Synopsis: Homeless veteran Joey Jones (Jason Statham) finds himself with the opportunity to rebuild his life after stumbling upon the empty apartment of a rich businessman. But first, he has more than a few scores to settle around London’s seedy criminal underworld.
HUMMINGBIRD’s posters do something of a disservice to the film’s true nature. Where Jason Statham’s face would usually conjure up images of cracked skulls and bloodied car bonnets, HUMMINGBIRD strives to show a different side to the actor than the one we’ve seen previously. Admittedly, Statham has done well to carve out a name for himself in his usual roles, but forget about CRANK and THE TRANSPORTER – HUMMINGBIRD is something else entirely. It’s still a Jason Statham vehicle, not least because everything else around him isn’t that great, but one that’s driving toward an altogether alternative destination.
Statham surprises and delights in equal measure, proving himself versatile in a more emotional role than we’re used to. Playing ex-Special Forces operative Joey Jones, we find his character homeless as the film opens, and a short sequence involving a couple of muggers tells us Statham hasn’t deserted his action chops entirely. Joey is, after all, navigating London’s criminal underworld; a fact which provides us with a refreshingly unique take on the city for much of the film.
In this sense, director Steven Knight has attempted, with some success, to blend multiple approaches to his film that result in a neo-noir story of vengeance and redemption. It’s easy to connect with Statham’s character, thanks not only to the actor but to the script itself – Joey escapes a beating to find himself in a rich businessman’s apartment, which he soon discovers he has to himself for the next nine months. Instead of using his newfound wealth to flee to some remote island and live out the rest of his days in peace, Joey takes up a job at a restaurant and starts giving food to his fellow homeless. We’re shown a character with much more complexity than Statham has ever attempted to display before, and one that works on almost every level.
Sadly though, while the cinematography may be up to scratch and the script prompts some interesting themes, almost everything else surrounding Statham falls down. His strained relationship with nun Sister Cristina (Agata Buzek) feels anything but natural, while his quest to find homeless friend Isabel (Victoria Bewick), from whom he is separated at the film’s beginning, is disjointed, and we never really care for Isabel in the same way that we do Joey.
Of course, the film still retains its fair share of hallmark Statham violence, but none of it feels as empty or pointless as in, say, SAFE or PARKER. HUMMINGBIRD is certainly in this regard a more meaningful and interesting Statham film, and worth a watch if only to see the Furious Potato do some acting for a change.
HUMMINGBIRD is released in UK cinemas today.
