Review: Hummingbird


Jason Statham stars as an emotionally and psychologically shattered ex-Special Forces soldier now basically a denizen of the streets, having gone AWOL for some hazy reasons. He was made into a killing machine by the military, but what good is that now that he’s back home and is still haunted by his actions? Statham is trying to make things right with the mother of his child, as well as trying to keep an eye on another homeless person whose whereabouts are currently unknown. He also forms an odd and unlikely bond with a compassionate nun (Agata Buzek) who works in the soup kitchen Statham (who also has a drinking problem) occasionally frequents. He’s clearly looking for redemption of some kind. Statham’s temper and violent tendencies occasionally get the better of him, though, and he also manages to land a disreputable gig working for a Chinese mobster. The latter is because he’s still trying to find out what happened to his friend. He’ll stop at nothing to find the truth.

 

Perhaps inspired by the earlier “Safe”, Jason Statham finds himself cast in an unusually vulnerable, tortured role in this nearly successful action/drama from 2013. Written and directed by Steven Knight (writer of “Amazing Grace” and more importantly “Eastern Promises”), Statham actually nails it this time, where in “Safe” he wasn’t quite up to the task. You definitely won’t have seen him quite as vulnerable as he allows himself to be here. He’s also well-matched by Agata Buzek as a compassionate nun, a very good performance from her, even if her character’s behaviour isn’t always plausible.

 

It’s an interesting and unexpected film (though maybe not if you were already aware that Knight wrote “Eastern Promises”), if a bit lumpy and disjointed for my liking. There’s not a whole lot of action, but when it comes, Statham sure is a mean fucker, isn’t he? He even engages in a bit of martial arts from time to time. The film also shows off some excellent London locales.

 

The film definitely has something with Statham’s shattered and disillusioned military-made machine of a man, but it’s not entirely successful (much like “Safe”, really). Statham die-hards are warned, but the curious might find it interesting to see him doing something a little different.

 

Rating: C+

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more