<Review by: Sailesh Ghelani>

Directed by Steven Knight. Starring Jason Statham, Agata Buzek, Vicky McClure, Benedict Wong

Hummingbird has gone by the title Redemption in some markets but that hasn’t saved the film from being pretty irredeemable.

In the first 15 odd minutes of Hummingbird, actor Jason Statham says nothing. We’re given a very sketchy background into his past as a soldier in Afghanistan whose been through a traumatic event leading him to desert the army and take refuge on the streets of London. Then very strangely, some goons chase him into a swanky London apartment with photos of nude men on the walls. This for some inexplicable reason is to establish that the out-of-town owner is gay. All that is used for is his alibi for staying there and a gay-related joke later on.

He then stays at the gay chap’s apartment, takes his money and his car and gets a job with some underworld Chinese (they’re always the bad guys, them and the Russians) as the ‘driver’ and now he ‘transports’ drugs and humans for large wads of cash that he uses for ‘good deeds’. Sorry, but this just does not compute.

While he’s at it, Joey Jones (Jason Statham) helps out a confused Polish nun (Agata Buzek) who runs a soup kitchen and had helped Joey when he was a bum. Now he wants to repay her, ask for more help and even gives her money and a slinky red dress. Yes, the nun does end up wearing it to a gallery opening with lots of photos of nude men on the wall and a glass of wine in her hand. As ridiculous as this premise sounds, it actually is one of the few endearing aspects of the movie. The interactions between the nun and this gangster with a heart actually make for some fuzzy funny moments.

But alas, Jason Statham is exactly how he is in every other movie you see him in. This isn’t the worst thing of course, but it’s so stereotypical. I mean even his look doesn’t change in any of his movies. He talks, walks and even dresses the same. You can’t help but think this is just the Transporter being transported to different film sets and being exactly the same character on all of them! He’s always saving the girl, driving, using his fine body to crunch other people’s bones to shreds. If he can’t act any other character then maybe he should retire. Even Arnie had a more varied career of roles!

Read this related article: Nine actors who play the same character in every movie!

Don’t let the presence of CGI hummingbirds in the film fool you. Apart from the fact that they tell you nothing they also mislead you: hummingbirds are very quick (wing speed is 40-80 flaps per second) but the pace of this film is certainly not. If you’re easily bored then don’t bother but if you’re a fan of Statham then give it a go, just don’t expect much.