20 Recent Movies WAY Better Than They Had Any Right To Be

The marketing for Jason Statham's new action thriller Shelter did basically nothing to make it stand out from his usual fare, while lacking the more tongue-in-cheek tone that made The Beekeeper such a hit back in 2024.

And while Shelter takes itself relatively seriously, having The Stath play middle-aged protector to a young girl is a surprisingly effective trick, finding Statham in his own mid-90s Bruce Willis Mercury Rising era (complimentary).

Shelter isn't particularly clever, but it is a refreshingly slow-burn thriller that takes its time investing the audience in the central pairing, elevated by Statham's unexpected chemistry with young co-star Bodhi Rae Breathnach.

Director Ric Roman Waugh takes a while to get us to the action, but it's certainly hard-hitting and satisfyingly crunchy when it finally does arrive, ensuring this is ultimately a superior Dad Movie amid a sea of decidedly lower-effort genre slop.

It didn't set the world on fire, but it was an entertaining enough diversion, which is far more than the lackluster trailers led anyone to believe.