10 Trick Castings That Totally Fooled You
3. Jason Statham - War
Jason Statham was pretty comfortable as an action star when he signed on for War, which pits him against Jet Li. He plays a vengeful cop chasing Li’s legendary assassin, who previously killed Statham’s partner and family years before.
So far, so formula.
War has a couple of tricks up its sleeve, though. One is that Li actually is Statham’s old partner, who surgically altered his face to become this assassin so he could avenge his wife. The other is that Statham is the one who betrayed him, and he was secretly in league with the villains all along.
Statham’s movies have a very predictable formula - punch, shoot, drive fast - so to watch one that breaks away and reveals he’s a bad dude is a bold move. War isn’t even that good, but it gets bonus points for expertly subverting expectations.