We’re big Jason Statham fans, but does this recent action thriller work for us?

When a former super soldier turned construction worker discovers his friends’ daughter has been kidnapped, he must return to his old super soldier ways to rescue her from evil Russian mobsters.

Is this a good Statham movie? Is it a good action movie? Will the baffling production design decisions distract you? Is the moon really that big?

Check out our review to find out.

https://CupOfTea.podbean.com/e/a-working-man-2025/

If you’re more interested in reading our review, you can read the transcript of our podcast here. Let us know if you like this feature.

Working Man Review Transcript

Tim: Hello, and welcome to Cup of Tea Reviews. My name is Tim, and I’m joined, as always, by Michael. 

Michael: Thanks for having me. 

Tim: Thank you for joining me. You know, Michael, we watch movies to have a good time, but so many of them are duds. 

Michael: That’s right, Tim. We waste our time so that you don’t have to. 

Tim: That’s right, Michael, and this week the movie is A Working Man.

It is a 2025 action thriller starring Jason Statham. Michael, please give us your hot take. 

Michael: Tim, this movie was my cup of tea. It’s classic Statham fare, which is exactly what I was looking for. What about you? 

Tim: This movie was not my cup of tea. I love Statham. I think there’s a lot going on here that works, but at the end of the day it just wasn’t enough for me.

Michael: So Tim, what’s it about? 

Tim: After a girl is kidnapped, a super soldier-turned-construction worker hunts down the human traffickers responsible. Michael, where would you like to start with this one? 

Michael: I’m gonna start with what wasn’t working, because I think we both had some things in that space. For me, the greatest problem I have with this film is there are plenty of moments that it’s just a fine time, right?

It’s not, it’s not great, it’s not terrible. It’s just kind of like middle-of-the-road Statham fare, and for me, that was enough to get it over that threshold, ’cause I was… That was what I was looking for when we watched this. But it’s not his best work, right? Yeah. Like, there are movies that he is in that are more fun than this one.

Uh, but i- once you’ve watched those, if you want something else kind of cut from the same cloth, this for me was in that space. But it’s just fine. 

Tim: We’ve always praised Jason Statham for being a great action star, and he absolutely is. He always delivers, and he always brings 110%. One of my big problems with the movie, though, is that the action here is shot pretty poorly.

There’s a lot of scenes that are really, you know, choppy. They’re cut together in a very convoluted manner. They basically are burying Statham’s physical performance here. We don’t really get to see him do the cool things that he’s known for. We don’t get to see him perform the way that I, I really like to see.

There’s one action set piece that is well done and well-choreographed and well-shot. But for the vast majority of the film, the action is just too choppy, too convoluted, and too poorly shot to really become engaging for me. 

Michael: I agree with you, Tim. The other thing I really struggled with was the plot. The plot gets more and more convoluted as, as it goes on.

We have a kidnapped girl. That’s easy to get emotionally hooked into as a story. But then it’s like the mob’s involved, and then, oh no, the government’s involved, and actually it’s a wide-ranging human trafficking conspiracy. But thank God Statham’s on the case, ’cause he can take all that down. There was a lot of characters where it was confusing, like, “Oh, wait, who do you work for?

And now why are we here, and why are we doing this?” And it just got really muddled really quickly, which is always a problem in these Jason Statham movies where you’re looking for this clear, linear plot. Give me some good action. I don’t need a whole global conspiracy for him to take down. 

Tim: He infiltrates so many layers of, like, the Russian mafia.

Then, you know, he meets the Russian mob boss, and then he meets the next mob boss, and then there’s another mob boss, and then there’s a whole biker gang that he has to deal with. And it’s just like, who is the villain here? And like, what are we doing? Like, what, what exactly is going on? Why are there 15 layers of bad guys and henchmen?

It just muddles everything. I think this is a negative, but I actually, the more I’m thinking about it, I think it’s a positive. There’s some very weird production design choices. This biker gang that he infiltrates has, like, a back room that is, like, a weird, like, medieval throne room with giant throne made of, like- Bike 

Michael: parts 

Tim: or something

bike parts. Mm-hmm. And it’s like, what is this? Like, why… What movie is this from, is really how it feels, which is very funny. Also, the finale of the film is set at night, and there is a moon that is in, like, the background of every single shot, and the moon is, like, the biggest moon I have ever seen. It’s like 5,000 times the size of the actual moon.

And I don’t know who did that or why It was like a terrible production design choice, but it made me laugh every single time it showed up. It’s like, have you never seen the moon before? Or what, what are you doing? Like, why is this like fake moon in s- in every single shot here? 

Michael: Yeah. Like someone did that, and then they were like, “Ah, we’re just not gonna change that.

That’s fine.” So yeah, no I, I think all of the things we’ve listed are problems, but I wanna switch to the good here, Tim, which- Yeah … at the end of the day, why this gets over the 50% mark, and again, only barely for me, is that this is just classic Statham fare. Yeah. Like, this is easy to watch. It’s enjoyable to watch while you’re watching it, and it just kind of is an easy ride.

And again, it’s not like this is a redefining cinematic masterpiece. Mm-hmm. But for me, where I was at when I watched this, that was exactly what I was looking for, just to be able to turn something on- Mm-hmm … turn my brain off, and watch Jason Statham punch some guys. 

Tim: It is a very, like strong emotional through line.

We are rescuing this girl. Statham’s got this kind of found family going on. It’s easy to get wrapped up or swept up in the vengeance of it all and, like, there’s justice in the world because this guy is gonna take down these bad guys. And there’s something very cathartic about seeing somebody getting justice for somebody who has been wronged, and I really appreciate that.

So there’s a strong connection there. 

Michael: I agree with you, Tim. The last thing I would say is wh- while I agree with you that some of the action was pretty poorly shot and just cut to ribbons in the editing room, some of the set ideas of like, okay, he’s gonna be in a van, and he’s- Mm-hmm … gonna be like fighting guys in this really confined space, and he’s got to use the things inside the van as weapons.

Like, those ideas are always what defines Jason Statham movies for me. Mm-hmm. And there were a couple really interesting ones here that I liked. 

Tim: Yeah. 

Michael: So that worked despite the fact that at some times they got slashed to ribbons, and I couldn’t really see what was going on. 

Tim: Yeah, no, I think that, that when it’s working, it’s working, and when it’s not, it’s, it’s disappointing.

And those disappointing moments are what dragged it down for me. Michael, when should somebody watch the film? 

Michael: So I wouldn’t recommend this as like a first go-to Jason Statham movie. Yeah. Like, there’s a bunch of other movies that I’d recommend first. However, if you like Jason Statham, you like action movies, and you’re just looking for something that you can turn your brain off and watch, I think that’s, this is a fine enough time.

Like, we’ve seen a lot of worse action movies that don’t really stick the landing. This one, it gets through what it’s trying to do, and it’s just, it’s, it’s a fun, it’s a fine time. 

Tim: This is not top-tier Statham, but it’s also not bottom-of-the-barrel Statham, so I think there’s a place for that. And yeah, if you’re looking for just a pretty good time, you know, looking for that really strong man gets revenge against the, against an evil system, I think there’s definitely a space to watch this movie.

But I wouldn’t seek it out. I don’t think you need to go check this one out if you’re not already in that space. So slight recommendation from me, but, uh, there’s worse things you could do. Thank you guys for listening. This has been Cup of Tea Reviews.