JASON STATHAM, WHEN WILL YOU FINALLY STEP BACK INTO SFX TERRITORY?

How Jason Statham became the world’s biggest B-movie star.

The man, the myth, the legend; this is Jason Statham. You don’t mess with Jason Statham. For more than a decade, a consistent theme has run through the man’s work: You Don’t Mess With Jason Statham. What you have seen, however, is Jason Statham punching people in the face. Kicking them in the face. Shooting them in the face. Or all three at once, during a car, a bike or a boat chase where everything’s on fire, and the hardware that’s on show is A-grade military weapons. He’s also a dap-hand at comedy, too (Spy), dramatic and serious roles (Hummingbird, Homefront & Blitz) and of course – ACTION! ACTION! ACTION!

Hey, you guys! You forget one thing, ‘JS’ has tip-toed his mean, little pinky into Sci-fi territory before. It may off just been once in ‘Ghost of Mars’ but it was a great attempt to establish the ‘John Carpenter’ effect – again.

The American science fiction action horror film, composed, written, and directed by John Carpenter. Also stars; Ice Cube and Natasha Henstridge.

So, surprise surprise everyone hated Ghost of Mars like they did The Thing. Now, I am in no way comparing Ghosts to The Thing, (which is a vastly superior film). But Ghosts is in the same position; as it will be in fifteen years time when people will look back on it and say ‘Maybe it wasn’t that bad’ (WHICH IT ISN’T – I sat and admired the film again the other night).

It’s a great Sci-fi romp.The western atmosphere? The focus on action and story, but not character? Vast hoards of nameless enemies? These were all in Assault on Precinct 13. Oh wait, no one liked that in 1976 either. But you see my point? It will take about fifteen years to appreciate how good ‘Ghost of Mars’ really was.

So it must be the structure. Is the structure, with its flashbacks-within-flashbacks and weird editing any more bizarre than the corkscrew science behind ‘Prince of Darkness’? (Remember the flick – 1987).

All said and complained about, if Ghosts of Mars was released in 1987 or something it wouldn’t have been getting bashed. Hell, Jason Statham might have been the new Kurt Russell. If anything, with Ghosts of Mars and it’s OTT structure, it’s a great film for a pop-corn frenzied Friday night in.

Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t understand how someone can hate Ghost of Mars and have unconditional love for Assault on Precinct 13 (Old, not new!). Give Ghosts another go, and watch it with an open mind.

In my opinion, ‘Statham rocked in this genre’ and should come back to it, and soon.

But, lets not do a fantasy adventure!

  In the Name of the King (I’m not saying nilch!).  

But we want Jason to dip another, little toe into SFX territory soon, and we might have a catch of the day in Meg… but not quite SFX, though.

MEG; coming 2018.                                                                                             Photo: Warner Bros

When a submersible lies disabled at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, an expert deep-sea diver is forced to confront his fears and risk everything on a single question: Could the Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest marine predator that ever existed – still be alive and on the hunt? “We sure hope so!”

Based on the novel Meg: A Novel Of Deep Terror by American sci-fi author Steve Alten, Meg follows the story of deep-sea diver and naval captain Jonas Taylor (Statham), who is dishonorably discharged from the navy after being forced to abort a mission in the Marianas Trench, abandoning half his crew in the process.

What earns him further disgrace is his unsupported insistence that his vessel was attacked by a Megalodon, a giant shark about 20 metres long, thought to be extinct for millions of years. Eventually, as is the way with these things, Taylor earns a shot at redemption when he gets the call to rescue a submersible lying disabled at the bottom of the ocean.

The movie is now in production ‘here’ in New Zealand at the moment, and running until Christmas, and stars Kiwi actor Cliff Curtis (Fear the Walking Dead). This could be where Curtis comes in – his role on Meg is described as “Operations Chief aboard the Mana One”, which sounds like it might just be the rescue vessel sent to retrieve the floundering sub.

Curtis also joins fellow Australasian Ruby Rose, US comedic actor Rainn Wilson and Chinese actress Bingbing Li on the cast. (Just a little side-tracked!)

So, in the end, I’m hoping that ‘Meg’ is a worldwide hit, and will ultimately spur Mr Statham in participating in more adventure/Sci-fi roles in the near future.

Enjoyed the read? Feel free and post comments… Twitter and blog, and let’s bring Mr Statham back into our realm again.