Action megastarJason Stathamstill looks powerful for a man inching toward 60.
So what if he doesnt take off his shirt as much anymore?
This proud lineage includes such testosterone-jacked showbiz legends as Steve McQueen,Clint Eastwood, and Charles Bronson.
Jason Statham in ‘A Working Man.‘Dan Smith
Are you unfamiliar with Bronson?
There are a lot of actors who deserve the honor of that fourth slot: Chuck Norris?
His mug belongs on that mountain.
These movies are cheesy, the violence is cartoonish, and the Botox budget must have been huge.
He has an adoring daughter whose granddad is unreasonably cruel to Cade.
The movie leans heavily into a popular action-movie convention: a damsel in distress.
His 1993 movieLast Action Herois not an action movie; its a meta comedy with a magical premise.
The movie makes fun of the genre back when it was pumping out dependable hits.
Its not funny but not dull, either a fascinating flop.
(One thing to love about good old-fashioned R-rated action movies?
They are irony-free zones.)
Stathams allure is his sniper intensity.
Remember: Every Hollywood fistfight is as choreographed as the climax ofDirty Dancing.
This man can waltz with the best of them.
InA Working Man, Statham isnt just a blue-collar supersoldier; hes a living symbol of a fading code.
Hes not a sarcastic motormouth like Ryan Reynolds, for instance.
Cade stuffs his emotions down, the way granddad did it.
Examples of said virtues: There are good guys and bad guys.
Good guys are loyal and honest and help the weak.
Bad guys are selfish, greedy, and prone to speeches.
Heres another thing action movies teach: Punching solves most problems.
This might not be the most virtuous lesson one can learn, but its a good time a release.
Who hasnt idly daydreamed about taking a flamethrower to their neighbors 15-foot-tall plastic skeleton in their yard?
They werent ideal teachers.
Can you imagine any of Jason Stathams rugged one-man-army characters sitting down for a three-hour podcast with a blowhard?
Gerard Butler isstill regularly employed.
(For the record: Superhero movies are a sub-genre of action and make a lot of money.
They are also inferior.)
But all these ripped do-gooders fight evil in the shadows of icons like Statham.
His brand of heroism isnt as fashionable as it once was.
