Jason Statham is back, and this time he’s taking a page straight out of Liam Neeson’s Taken playbook in A Working Man, a kill-heavy, testosterone-fuelled action thriller from director David Ayer. Written and produced by Sylvester Stallone, the film leans hard into the gritty, old-school action formula, delivering brutal fight sequences, endless machismo, and dialogue that could’ve been ripped straight from a 1980s direct-to-video flick.
Statham plays Levon Cade, a former Royal Marine turned construction worker who just wants to live a quiet life with his daughter. But when his boss’s daughter goes missing, Cade is forced back into the fray, taking on a network of ruthless Russian criminals with nothing but his fists, an arsenal of weapons, and a set of very speacial skills. It’s all very Taken-meets-John Wick, but without about as much charm as a rusty chainsaw in a dentist’s office.
David Ayer (End of Watch, Fury) knows how to craft intense, street-level action, and A Working Man certainly delivers on that front. The fight choreography is raw and punishing, with Statham doing what he does best—breaking bones and taking names. The cinematography is appropriately grimy, and the film moves at a relentless pace. However, Ayer also leans too heavily into the hyper-masculine, grim-dark aesthetic that has become his trademark, making A Working Man feel like a parody of itself.
The screenplay, penned by Stallone, is where things truly fall apart. The dialogue is laughably bad, packed with over-the-top tough-guy monologues and cheesy one-liners that feel like they belong in a low-budget ‘80s action flick rather than a modern theatrical release. At the screening I attended, there were audible guffaws from the audience—not at the intended moments of levity, but at the sheer ridiculousness of some of the lines.
The supporting cast, including Michael Peña and David Harbour, do their best with what they’re given, but even they can’t save some of the painfully cliché exchanges. Peña, in particular, seems to be phoning it, and who could blame him.
It’s clear that A Working Man knows exactly who its target audience is—fans of no-nonsense, B-movie-style action who just want to see Statham kill bad guys. And in that sense, it delivers. However, the film also tries way too hard to position itself as a future cult classic, throwing in exaggerated moments of macho coded nonsense that often feels hollow and forced.
If you go into A Working Man expecting a deep or well-crafted story, you’ll be sorely disappointed. If, however, you just want to watch Statham punch his way through a series of bad guys while delivering ridiculous dialogue, then this might scratch that itch. It’s a dumb, loud, and unapologetically macho action thriller that offers some entertainment but lacks substance.
