Jason Stathamis undeniably one of the silver screen’s most celebrated action superstars, and since his dazzling film debut in Guy Ritchie’s 1998 black crimecomedyLock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,he has steadily become one of the most famous faces of the adrenaline-pumping genre. Known for portraying cool, calm, and tough-as-nails characters, Statham has emerged as one of Hollywood’s most bankable leading men and his exhilarating movies have grossed more than $1.5 billion while also attracting a passionate fanbase along the way.
Statham has starred in a slew of big budget extravaganzas throughout his impressive cinema career, appearing in popular flicks like theTransportertrilogy,The Mechanic,The Expendables,and the enduringFast & Furiousfranchise(to name just a few). Despite being a major box office draw, the charismatic actor has also been in his fair share of critical duds (even if audiences felt differently), with respected film criticRoger Ebertsingling out two of Statham’s projects and declaring them amongst the worst action movies of all time:Death RaceandRevolver.Let’s explore why they attracted the ire of the late and great Ebert.
Statham’s Pedal to the Metal Action Thriller
Paul W.S. Anderson’s rip-roaring dystopian action thrillerDeath Racetakes place in the country’s most dangerous and brutal privatized prison and in a world where the government has collapsed and chaos runs rampant.When ex-con and industrial worker Jensen Ames (Statham) is framed for a murder he didn’t commit, he is sent to the violent Terminal Island Penitentiary where its sadistic warden earns profits for the facility by forcing the inmates to compete in a vehicular combat racing series. Ames takes on the identity of the masked “Frankenstein” in the precarious race, knocking out his fellow inmates one-by-one in a bid to earn his freedom.
A remake of the 1975 originalDeath Race 2000featuring David Carradinein the lead role, the thriller featured the additional talents of stars like Tyrese Gibson, Ian McShane, and Joan Allen and, unsurprisingly, attracted less-than-glowing reviews from critics despite audiences awarding the film a solid B+ CinemaScore and grossing $76 million at the box office.Roger Ebert did not hesitate to express his overwhelming disdain for the action flick, givingDeath Racejusthalf a star out of fourand felt that the gifted Allen was woefully underutilized as the warden despite delivering “her scenes with an icy venom.”
Jason Statham’s $76 Million Action Thriller Deserved Better Than Its Rotten Tomatoes Score
Jason Statham is known for commanding the screen in every role he plays, and he once again does so in the dystopian action thriller Death Race.
It sure seems as thoughEbert felt Anderson chose style over substancewhen it came to creating the exhilarating adaptation, hyper-fixating onviolence and car chasesand muddying the plot along the way. Ebert was not alone in his loathing ofDeath Race,as his fellow critics considered it mindless and uninspired entertainment, and he did not mince words when it came to summing up the essence of the over-the-top movie, declaring it “an assault on all the senses, including common.“Rent/Buy onApple TV+.
Death Race
Ritchie & Statham Join Forces Once Again
Jason Statham partnered up with frequentcollaborator Guy Ritchieonce again when he appeared alongside Ray Liotta and André Benjamin in the taut action thrillerRevolver. This time,Statham a appears as infamous gangster and gambler Jake Green as he finds himself fresh out of the slammer after doing time for a crime he did not commit. With both money and revenge on his mind, Green sets his sights on taking out the man resonsible for his imprisonment: casino owner and crime boss Dorothy Macha (Liotta). His plans get derailed when he discovers he has just a few days to live, prompting Green to rely on deception and stragety to swfitly carry out his veangeance.
Both a critical and commercial failure,Revolverfailed to replicate the success of pastRitchie/Statham collaborations, with the thrillerreceiving a terrible 13% Rotten Tomatoes scoreand an underwhelming 56% on the Popcornmeter. Many declared the movie far-too intricate and pretentious, with Ebert once again giving the Statham flick half a star out of four andscathingly describing it as"a frothing mad film that thrashes against its very sprocket holes in an attempt to bash its brains out against the projector.”
Every Jason Statham Movie Made Outside Hollywood, Ranked
Some of Jason Statham’s best movies weren’t made in Hollywood. Here is how they rank against each other.
Ebert felt that the plot was a jumbled mess that tried too hard to serve up a satisfying mystery and instead relied heavily on nonsensical flashbacks and flashforwards while failing to deliver any genuine thrills. He went so far as to write thatRevolveractually angered him and that it progressively lost its purpose with each passing scene, while also expressing how the acting was far better than the thriller deserved.The revered criticwas thoroughly unimpressed by Ritchie’s ridiculous vision for the movie, bitingly stating thatRevolverwas “designed to punish the audience for buying tickets.“Rent/Buy onApple TV+.
