By Renee’ Collins
Rating: 1 (Out of 5 Reels)
I have actually enjoyed Jason Statham’s previous work in the Transporter series; that is the first and third film. He also performs well in the remake of The Italian Job along-side Donald Sutherland, Edward Norton and Mark Wahlberg. A former DEA agent moves his family to a quiet town, where he soon tangles with a local meth drug lord (IMDB).
BUT, with Homefront, we have a bit of a different story, From a technical aspect there is nothing wrong with this film as a whole. I wasn’t expecting to see Winona Ryder playing a skank, if you will pardon the term, but it fits in this case. I suspected James Franco could portray a convincing villain and he does. Statham also gives an on par portrayal as a former DEA agent trying to lay low and stay under the radar while raising his young daughter after the death of his wife a year earlier. As usual no matter what he does trouble finds him and consequently his daughter. Notebly the film lacks freshness. I have seen it all before and done far better.
The major problem with this film is that it has been done so many times there is really no need to see it, because most thinking people will know what will happen without much effort, because the story is routine to say the least and is a study in mediocrity. I would not bother seeing this film during the holiday season. If seeing it is a must, I would wait for it to come out on television although even then I wouldn’t bother. The one thing I hoped, and why I made the effort regardless of my misgivings, was the idea of seeing Statham without his shirt and we don’t even get that in this film; boo. He generally plays the same character over and over again, so one bonus would be a look at those lovely abs!