When it comes to action movies, stars like Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise may come to mind, but Jason Statham is arguably just as well-known in the genre. Beginning with the Transporter trilogy, the actor became known for his effortlessly cool martial arts moves and has starred in a number of other successful franchises, including The Expendables, Crank, Fast & Furious, and Mechanic.
Jason Statham is best known for his roles in the action films Crank and The Transporter, but he has also starred in a number of other films,
some of which have made him a veteran, while others have disappointed fans. The early 2010s were particularly turbulent for Statham, as he struggled with a series of flops following his breakout success with Transporter 3 and Crank.
Starting at 13, the actor appeared in Gnomeo & Juliet, an animated fantasy comedy, The Mechanic, one of his most underrated action films, Killer Elite, an action thriller starring Robert De Niro and
Clive Owen, and finally Blitz, an action film based on the novel by Ken Bruen. Unfortunately, all of these films were either box office failures or had little critical success, leading to setbacks for the iconic Statham, who is considered one of the greatest action stars of the 21st century. For a more concise explanation of how these films fared, here’s a detailed table showing the box office and audience ratings:
As you can see from the table above, almost every film is a disappointment to both critics and commercial audiences, with the exception of Gnomeo & Juliet, which grossed a relatively large $193.7 million at the box office on a meager $36 million budget. However, Statham did not voice the title character in the film, but rather Tybalt, Gnomeo and Benny’s nemesis. While it was not necessarily a supporting role, given the character’s importance to the plot, it was not considered a Statham film.
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As a result, Statham endured a long losing streak before finding his deserved success in The Expendables 2, which starred a host of other A-listers. More specifically, The Expendables 2 has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 68% (Tomatometer) and 67% (Popcornmeter), earning a staggering $315 million against a $100 million budget. While that may seem like a reasonable gross given the film’s equally massive budget, it’s worth noting that the cast includes Sylvester Stallone, Liam Hemsworth,
Jean-Claude Van Damme, Jet Li, Chuck Norris, Randy Couture, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Scott Adkins, and Dolph Lundgren. After playing a key role in The Expendables 2, Jason Statham’s future looked bright as he quickly landed roles in The Fast and the Furious and returned for The Expendables 3, which is considered another intriguing addition to the long-running franchise.