Last year Jason Statham and David Ayer teamed up for The Beekeeper — a movie that was dubbed “torturous” by critics , but was actually a pretty fun experience, especially if bee puns are your thing. While fans are likely excited that The Beekeeper 2 is happening, the even-better news is that we don’t have to wait that long to see Statham and Ayer’s next project. In fact, A Working Man is hitting the 2025 movie calendar soon, so let’s see what critics think about this one.
This upcoming action film has a familiar premise: Ex-Royal Marines commander Levon Cade (Statham) is forced to dip back into his old ways when his boss’ teenage daughter is taken by human traffickers. It sounds like the film could hit the same notes as Statham’s 2024 offering, but in CinemaBlend’s review of A Working Man, Eric Eisenberg says it fails to capture that same fun energy. He gives it 2 out of 5 stars, writing:
It operates with the exact same hero arc [as The Beekeeper] but it’s delivered this time without the energy. It’s a rote movie through and through built on tropes and lazy plotting, and unless you’re an extreme Statham apologist who simply loves it every time he is on screen punching dudes, you’re not going to find much of anything to appreciate.
Derek Smith of SlashFilm gives the movie 1.5 out of 5 stars, saying Jason Statham’s protagonist is dead behind the eyes, with his untreated PTSD serving more as a superpower to assist his vigilantism than lingering psychological anguish. Smith also says:
A Working Man fails to offer anything that allows it to distinguish itself in the crowded genre of revenge films besides its retrograde politics. At times, the amount of enemies that Levon has to contend with at once, as in one scene where he takes on nearly a dozen foes in a drug den, brings to mind a John Wick film. But the action is so often edited to pieces that you lose the sense of spatial continuity and coherence that makes the combat in Chad Stahelski’s series so visceral.
Brianna Zigler of AV Club gives A Working Man a D, calling it “a largely tiresome action flick that can’t overcome the pedestrian trappings of its filmmakers’ own banality.” Zigler writes:
Like The Beekeeper, the film suffers from the same case of dreary tedium which spoils any enjoyment—although, The Beekeeper certainly had more buoyancy in its tone. A Working Man is as dingy and dark as its cinematography. Though these visuals certainly match the content of the film, there isn’t nearly enough going for it elsewhere to make up for it. There’s a complete lack of stakes.
Jeremy Mathai of SlashFilm acknowledges that there is definitely room for empty calorie entertainment in our movie theaters, but while we are craving the silliness that Ayer and Statham’s previous outing provided, A Working Man is merely a pale imitation of better movies we've seen before. Mathai gives it 5 out 10 and says:
Despite all this goofy potential, however, A Working Man can't quite establish itself as a contender to the crown of junk food cinema. Where The Beekeeper had the benefit of a hilariously over-the-top premise and a heightened tone to match, this latest Statham vehicle struggles mightily to recapture that same magic and ultimately delivers far less spectacular results than hoped for.
For Bill Bria of Discussing Film, however, A Working Man is a solid product, thanks to Jason Statham and David Ayer proving yet again that together they’re a formula for great action cinema. Bria rates the movie 3.5 out of 5 stars and says:
The proven narrative and its characters are strong enough to carry A Working Man all the way to quitting time, and then some. As any working man will tell you, getting a job done right all hinges on hiring the most reliable people, and the team of Jason Statham and David Ayer is increasingly becoming a dependable one. The two seem to bring out the best in each other, and that may be because they are, separately, two of the most consistent people in action films still working today.
It sounds like if you’re headed to the theater hoping for more of the B-movie fun (no pun intended) of The Beekeeper, you might be disappointed at A Working Man’s more serious tone. But if it’s Jason Statham kicking ass you’re going for, I think we know that he can deliver. Catch his latest film in theaters starting Friday, March 28.
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