Spy proves one glaring truth about the career of Jason Statham. Statham is an action movie icon whose movies have earned more than $8.4 billion collectively, with some of the highest-grossing being The Fate of the Furious ($1.24 billion), The Meg ($529.3 million), and The Expendables 2 ($274.5 million). Statham has proved to be a box office draw both as a lead in franchises such as The Mechanic, The Transporter, and Crank and as a supporting character, particularly Deckard Shaw in the Fast Saga, who held a title role in the 2019 spinoff Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw.
However, amid his many successful standalone and franchise action movies, Spy reviews have earned the star his best Rotten Tomatoes score yet with a near-perfect, Certified Fresh, 95% score on the review aggregator platform. This is his best score by a considerable margin, landing 14% ahead of his No. 2 title, Furious 7, which is Certified Fresh at 81%. Overall, the star has only ever earned four Certified Fresh scores throughout his career, with the remainder going to The Bank Job (80%) and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (75%).
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The best scenes of Jason Statham’s career highlight the actor’s inventive action skills as well as his surprisingly great capability for comedy.
Jason Statham Is Great For Comedies (Despite Being An Action Star)
Spy Proved His Comic Chops
2015’s Spy was an action-comedy that was particularly comedy-forward thanks to its leads Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne as well as director Paul Feig, allowing Statham to open up and deliver a solid comic performance all the way through. This led him to be nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor in a Comedy in 2016. Though he lost to Christian Bale in The Big Short, the comedy performance earned the star one of his only major awards nominations of his career, having otherwise largely been nominated for Teen Choice Awards and one Razzie Award (for Meg 2).
Paul Feig previously collaborated with both Melissa McCarthy and Rose Byrne in the Oscar-nominated 2011 comedy
Bridesmaids
.
Although Spy is one of his only pure comedy roles, many Jason Statham action movies feature him delivering comic relief. This is particularly notable in the Fast franchise, where he had humorous moments throughout The Fate of the Furious. This is likely one reason he was chosen to lead Hobbs & Shaw opposite Dwayne Johnson, as the dynamic between their characters fueled a strong comic throughline alongside the high-octane car stunts that the franchise is known for. He has also deftly handled the more comic tones of his Guy Ritchie movies, which include Snatch and Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre.
Jason Statham’s Action Star Idols Are Also Great In Comedies
Arnold Schwarzenegger And Sylvester Stallone Frequently Blended Genres
Statham has previously cited his action movie inspirations, which include stars such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger alongside Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee, Paul Newman, and Steve McQueen. Many of these stars are known for delivering the gruff, no-nonsense roles that Statham is also known for. Stallone’s iconic action turns include launching the Rambo and Rocky franchises, while Schwarzenegger is also known for a variety of roles including The Terminator, Predator, and The Running Man.
The Terminator
launched a long-running franchise with the majority of its installments featuring Schwarzenegger, most recently 2019’s
Terminator: Dark Fate
.
However, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone movies likewise tend to contain a lot of comic relief. From Stallone’s turn opposite Kurt Russell in Tango & Cash to Schwarzenegger’s quippy action roles in projects ranging from Terminator 2: Judgment Day to Commando, both actors are well known for blending comedy into their action movies. Both stars have also led pure comedies, which includes Stallone playing the title role in the mafia farce Oscar. Schwarzenegger has appeared in even more comedies, including the holiday romp Jingle All the Way, the buddy comedy Twins, and Ivan Reitman’s male pregnancy movie Junior.
Jason Statham Should Be In More Comedies Like Spy
He Would Be A Memorable Comic Lead
While many of Statham’s action movies are fun and have solid comic relief, his role in the Melissa McCarthy movie gave him a chance to show a side of himself that is rarely seen onscreen, even poking fun at his typically serious onscreen persona. The fact that he was able to hold his own in a movie that featured such strong comic performers, a roster that also included Miranda‘s Miranda Hart, Will & Grace‘s Bobby Cannavale, Mom‘s Allison Janney, The Office‘s Zach Woods, and Veep‘s Sam Richardson, shows that he is perfectly capable of leading a proper comedy movie.
A role like the character he played in Spy seems to be unfortunately off his radar…
However, none of Jason Statham’s upcoming movies are comedies. While the upcoming Fast 11 will likely have some comic relief, his other upcoming roles seem intensely serious. This includes the Stallone-penned Levon’s Trade from Suicide Squad director David Ayer, the conspiracy thriller Mutiny from Plane director Jean-François Richet, and an upcoming untitled thriller from Everest director Baltasar Kormakur. So far, a role like the character he played in Spy seems to be unfortunately off his radar, even though another pure comedy could show off the action star’s range in addition to potentially earning him further awards attention.
Written and directed by Paul Feig, 2015’s Spy features Jason Statham, Jude Law, and Melissa McCarthy in an Action, Comedy, and Spy setting. McCarthy plays a CIA employee relegated to a desk that helps her field agent partner remotely until she’s forced into action to help keep everyone safe.
- Director
- Paul Feig
- Release Date
- June 15, 2015
- Runtime
- 120 Minutes