Don Reviews "A Working Man"

One of the strangest things about action films that become franchises is the evolution of the title character from everyday man to superhuman.  One of the best examples is the character of John McClane from the Die Hard films: in the original, he was the character of a normal cop who beats the bad guys through ingenuity and realism, but as the films went on, the character evolved into basically an undefeatable soldier.  This also would be the M.O. for Bruce Willis’ career for a few years, and with today’s review, Jason Statham is also getting to that place.

A Working Man is latest new film directed by David Ayer (Suicide Squad) with a cast that includes Statham, Michael Pena, Arianna Rivas, and David Harbour. Based on a series of books, Levon Cade (Statham) is a foreman in Chicago for a construction company owned by Joe Garcia (Pena).  He is trying to move on from his past of being an elite soldier in Britain, which has also led to his former father-in-law fighting him on custody issues after the passing his wife (whom the father-in-law blames him for).  When Joe’s daughter, Jenny (Rivas), is kidnapped by members of a underground Russian syndicate, her parents call upon Levon to use his hidden past to light to rescue Jenny.

I am just going to be blunt: this is a mindless action film which I have seen Statham do many times before.  In fact, A Working Man is basically the sane plot of The Beekeeper with the names and locations being changed to protect the innocent.  It is so bad it could have been The Beekeeper 2, but that has already been announced.

If there is a good note, it lies in the action itself, but it still like it has gotten to the point where Statham gets to superhero status where he can kill a hundred well-trained assassins in one minute and not get a scratch.  This also plays into this film’s suspension of disbelief, which unfortunately is not as good.  If you are looking for a mindless action film, you may enjoy this film, but unfortunately, there is a chance A Working Man may make a list at the end of the year which means I will never watch this film ever again.