Homefront (2013)

Jason Statham, fighting, guns, errr...more fighting, yet not so much profanity. Predictable action packed romp you say? oh no don't be silly you silly filmgoer you, oh wait.

So Statham is the new guy in a small redneck town who is just trying to live a quiet life after his rambunctious time as a DEA undercover agent. After his little girl beats up some fat kid Statham finds himself in trouble with the fat kids hick parents, doesn't help that he floors the kids dad. So the fat kids trailer trash mum goes to see her brother who just happens to be the local drug dealer bad guy which as you can guess equals action time for Statham and his big hairy muscles. Believe it or not this is actually based on a novel amazingly.

Yep this is most definitely your bog standard action thriller that could of easily starred anyone of the classic big name action heroes. Same could be said for the bad guy role, anyone could of played it, it makes no difference. The story plods along at the usual cliched rate with the usual things you know are bound to happen. Lots of face to face confrontations where Statham shows the locals who's boss, sneaky breaking and entering from the bad guys, intimidation and dirty low down tricks to unnerve our hero and eventually a big shoot out and kidnapping of Statham's little girl.

Despite the outrageously corny plot and corny hard man act by Statham I must admit to enjoying the film and its vicious fights. When Jay is approached by these big lunkheads you know the outcome from the start, but you gotta admire the choreography involved bringing these rucks to life. The sound effects are blisteringly realistic as Statham chins these guys whilst smashing them against hard objects. I gotta say I liked it and found myself inadvertently cheering Jay on.

The bad guys are weak though, the bikers are pretty gritty and the local hick muscle is nicely intimidating but Franco as the main bad guy is weak. He doesn't actually do anything for the entire film accept scowl and look unwashed. He never fights Statham! all he does is pinch the little girls kitten (yet doesn't harm it) and then pinch the little girl (yet doesn't harm her). He mainly watches from the sidelines keeping out of the way, which is odd, he's not even remotely intimidating. The other weird thing is he actually shows signs of concern for what he's doing, as if he doesn't really wanna go down this route but is forced too. Its like he's not really that bad a guy, he just wants to deal his drugs in peace.

So despite being a total JCVD-type vehicle I found this film entertaining in a typically ruthless tooth loosening kinda way. We've seen it all before of course, Statham isn't really the perfect likeable hero lets be honest, he growls too much and isn't pretty. Franco is rather limp here and Ryder's character seems pointless but the violence is top notch and the film has a good steamy atmosphere. What I still find amusing is everything that happens in this film is all because of the little girl slapping that fat kid in the face at school. That's some chain of events right there!.

6/10