Review of Redemption (2013) by Martin C — 27 Jun 2013

Kristina: "Did you hurt anyone?".

Joey: "Only myself.".

*very minor spoilers*.

It's 'Jason Statham' again! so what overblown, stupid, dumb, mindless action film is he staring in now? 'Hummingbird'? so what is it about, being attached to a car via explosives? no. ok nothing along those lines. Well, well, well it appears he is trading up in his film roles. 'Hummingbird' still has some of the usual 'Statham' traits but there are very few action sequences and the dialogue isn't as silly as it usually is. But just because this isn't the norm bland action film for him doesn't necessarily mean it's good.

'Statham' plays 'Joey' an ex-special forces homeless man who after hiding in an empty flat to escape some thugs (who beat homeless to get what little they own) uses the flat as a start to a new life. But when he hears that his friend 'Isabel' ('Victoria Bewick') is missing he goes looking for her and looks to get vengeance for her. I'll start by saying I liked it, it wasn't brilliant and it has some major problems but I consider it a success. It starts very quickly after an initial strange start and gets straight into the story but it feels a bit abrupt to me. Its going for an emotional story about a man who due to his past has virtually no future so having such a quick start with no build-up of 'Joey' and Isabel's relationship means my the attempt at an emotional reaction is stunted I don't know anything about these two as this point other than they're homeless - hell you don't even know 'Joey' was an ex-soldier. At this point I was fearing the worst rolling my eyes a boring chase scene as well and oddly cut one that follows it. But it started to improve slowly Joey's hallucination of the hummingbirds and some flashbacks was very well done and really gave a real sense of what he's been dealing with for years. And despite the usual "oh he's a drinker" thing it was justified if somewhat cliched. The major problem I have is it doesn't follow through with properly with any of its ideas: the homeless aspect disappears after minutes, his relationship with 'Isabel' is practically unknown, his relationship with nun 'Kristina' (Agata Buzek') whilst the most fleshed out is odd and him having a child is just pathetically thrown-in. If there was more conviction with just two of those things there would have been a big improvement and there would have actually been an emotional response from me, I believe.

Visually it's mostly at night and looks decent it won't be recognizable but there is the odd moment of beauty here and there and the hallucinations with the hummingbird are interesting which are utilized well taking into account certain times, I would have liked more of them simply because I think it doesn't seem to happen as much as it should based on what he did. The acting is good 'Statham' does well as 'Joey' and becasue of his frosty exterior is a good fit for the role also giving him a chance to show he isn't just about beat the crap out of people. The only one with enough screen.

Time is 'Agata' and again she is a great fit for the nun and plays he part very well, everyone else works with what little screen time they have.

'Hummingbird' is a fantastic film by Staham's standard but just a decent film by the standards. Fans of him expecting another hard man beats almost everyone who appears in it will disappointed - this is NOT an action oriented film there are moments of action but it's about the character himself. Unfortunately, almost every aspect is undeveloped, everything is just competent enough to be enjoyable there's not enough info on the several focuses it has, 'Isabel', his past, his child and ex. I don't say this often but this would have most certainly benefited from a longer running time.