Hummingbird (15) (also known as Redemption)
Starring: Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure
Directed by: Steven Knight
Running time: 100mins
Homeless and on the run from a military court martial, a damaged ex-special forces soldier navigating London’s criminal underworld seizes an opportunity to assume another man’s identity — transforming into an avenging angel in the process.
Hummingbird is a game of two halves. Firstly, it’s everything you expect from a Statham movie: fast fights, insurmountable odds and a character toughter than cast iron. At least on the outside.
However, what you also get is a study of post-traumatic stress, desperation and two characters who started out as one thing but soon lost their way as the uniform became less and less of who they are.
The first is Statham’s Joey who is fleeing a military court martial for events that become clear as the movie progresses. Joey is homeless in London, a beautiful noir backdrop that perfectly canvasses his struggle, and he’s a broken man, but when fate – or God –put opportunity in his way he capitalises and straightens his life out, however as he puts right the things that have gone wrong in his life his path keeps crossing with Sister Cristina (Buzak), a nun who is having a crisis and who sees Joey as a means to a possible end… however, just what that end is, no-one knows.
Written and directed by Steven Knight, the director of Dirty, Pretty Things and Eastern Promises, Hummingbird is a beautiful film full of complex themes, and characters who are lost at sea. However, it’s far from subtle and is, in places, a confused mess.
Originally marketed as a Statham fight-fest, it’s far from this. His relationship with Cristina and his motivations are well handled and the fights are few and far between, rather a part of the story than the drive of the story.
It’s a movie that should be seen – we know that Statham can act – but sadly the negatives outweigh the positives, that said, I enjoyed the chemistry between the leads and Knight has an intimate knowledge of London and there’s an incredible look to the movie.
It’s an adventurous movie that never quite hits the highs of its convictions, but not a disaster by any means.
3 out of 5 Nerds
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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