In the pantheon of generic, no-nonsense action films that fill January year after year, Jason Statham’s output is becoming increasingly unparalleled. Rivaling the production of Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the ‘80s, Statham has become Hollywood’s go-to liberator of machismo, with the baton unofficially passing from the past to the present throughout the Expendables franchise. The British-born, bald tough guy can hunt sharks (The Meg, Meg 2: The Trench), drive fast cars (Fast & Furious franchise), hunt down criminals (Wrath of Man, Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre), and deliver “so bad it’s good” B-movie entertainment (The Beekeeper). He’s always a man with a particular set of skills, making him a nightmare for the suckers who get in his way.

Shelter falls right in line with The Beekeeper and A Working Man, with Statham playing Michael Mason, another supposed everyman trying to hide from his violent past. Doing one better than those previous two movies, this time, he’s hiding on a desolate, remote island off the coast of Scotland. He spends his days holed up in his cabin atop a cliff, playing against himself in chess and drinking away regrets. Whenever he does look out to sea, he knows that one day someone is going to show up for retribution. Until then, the only other human contact he has is the weekly supply shipments from a fishing boat manned by a captain and his younger niece, Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach).

A violent storm knocks Jessie off her dinghy and drowns the captain, marooning the girl on Mason’s island as he’s required to take care of her. Not one for personal contact, he begrudgingly returns to civilization to get her some medicine. A security camera picks him up, with MI6’s secretly illegal artificial intelligence program mistakenly flagging him as an international terrorist. A hitsquad quickly arrives on the island, forcing Michael and Jessie to go on the run to clear his name and rectify the past.

We spend almost a third of the film on the island before any fists or bullets are exchanged, a surprising amount of time considering the heavy marketing push on the action elements. Statham carries these moments with a steady presence, his only companions being the wind and the waves. He does have a trusty dog by his side, his innocent stares always providing the answer to Michael’s rhetorical questions. David Buckley’s score is at a constantly low, thumping register, the danger always around the corner.

Heading up MI6 down in London is Bill Nighy, who’s just been publicly sacked by the prime minister after it's discovered that the AI program has been spying on every British citizen. He’s someone who doesn’t care about freedoms getting in the way of power, which is how he burned Michael many years ago when they worked together. Naomi Ackie is his second-in-command, never fully in the know of how ruthless Nighy is. Both of them are fine, likely taking this job for an easy paycheck. They never leave their respective control rooms and get to bark orders at their underlings.

A standout is Bodhi Rae Breathnach, who most recently played Susanna, the eldest daughter of William Shakespeare, in Hamnet. Jacobi Jupe deservedly got the majority of the praise for playing the titular boy, but Breathnach was just as sensational. She continues her ascension here, successfully making me care about Michael’s ability to protect her, something these “Lone Wolf and Cub” type of films seldom accomplish. It feels like an oversimplification to compare her to Saoirse Ronan based on looks and her Irish background, but the talent is there. Look out for her later this year in the remake of Sense and Sensibility and Robert Eggers’ Werwulf.

Cornering the market this month with Greenland 2: Migration, along with this film, director Ric Roman Waugh competently stages the action. Statham goes toe-to-toe with the ruthless black ops assassin who took his position once he deserted, offering a slice of redemption to his arc. It’s all a tad generic, with a thin instigating element and a bafflingly weak climactic showdown. But sandwiched between those elements is an up-to-par action/drama showcase for one of our most dependable stars and a rising talent.