Shelter

Directed by Ric Roman Waugh, Shelter follows a mysterious recluse (Jason Statham’s Mason) as he attempts to protect a young girl (Bodhi Rae Breathnach’s Jessie) from armed assailants. Filmmaker Waugh, armed with Ward Parry’s screenplay, delivers a progressively engrossing endeavor that gets off to a decidedly less-than-promising start, as the picture, which runs a palpably overlong 107 minutes, kicks off with a slow-moving opening stretch that contains few instantly compelling attributes and elements. It’s clear, then, that Shelter benefits from a predictably solid Statham turn and a growing emphasis on impressively compelling action sequences and set-pieces (eg a brutal fight segues into a tense, exciting car chase), and while Waugh’s recurring use of shaky camerawork is regrettable (to say the least), the movie builds towards a tremendously satisfying (and agreeably violent) third act that’s capped off with a note-perfect final stretch – with the end result a better-than-average actioner that probably could’ve used a little tightening and streamlining.

*** out of ****