Jason Statham’srefusal to die onscreen might be a habit he’s picked up fromExpendablesco-starSylvester Stallone. SinceStatham’s first action role inGhosts of Mars, he’s become one of the biggest action stars of the 21st century. Even 20 years after his genre debut, the success of movies likeThe Beekeeperprove he’s as popular as ever. When Stallone selected Statham as his co-lead inThe Expendablesmovies, it felt like the action legend was passing his action crown to the British star. The two have collaborated on other projects too, like David Ayer’sA Working Man.
Stallone was one of the first movie stars to recognize the value of fostering franchises for himself, and his protégé has learned that lesson. Time will tell ifA Working Manspawns anotherJason Statham franchise, but it’s hard to imagine his character Levon will die before the end credits roll. In fact,Statham hasn’t died onscreen since 2007’sWar,where his corrupt cop faced off with Jet Li’s vengeful assassin- and lost. Since then, Statham’s characters have proven remarkably durable.
Sylvester Stallone’s New Action Movie Chickens Out On Breaking His Worst Screen Habit
The ending of Alarum sees Sylvester Stallone coming very close to breaking one of his worst screen habits - but the movie wusses out on this.
Jason Statham Appears To Have Inherited Sylvester Stallone’s No Death Rule
Stallone has refused to die onscreen since 1978
In the Netflix documentarySly, Stallone revealed the origin of his no-death rule. He disagreed with the director of his thrillerF.I.S.T., where Stallone’s union leader Kovak (who was loosely based on Jimmy Hoffa) is gunned down in the finale. The star hated this grim ending but was overruled.While Stallone has since flirted with the notion of killing characters like Rambo or Rocky, he hasn’t been killed in a movie since 1978. In the aftermath of his work with Stallone, Statham appears to have adopted a similar rule.
The star has been incredibly prolific sinceWar, yet none of his characters have come close to perishing. Now, this could just be the result of Statham focusing on mainstream fare, where his heroes dying would risk bumming out audiences. Even with this in mind,there are some movies, likeThe Mechanic,that feel like they warranted a bleaker ending for Statham’s heroes. Hell, he even undid one of his rare screen demises withCrank: High Voltage, in which his previously deceased hitman Chev got a new lease on life.
.,. Jason Statham’s characters almost always tick the same boxes - and surviving to the end has become one of them.
Prior toWar, Statham was more open-minded about playing doomed characters. He meets untimely ends inGhosts of Mars(being hacked to death by the titular spirits),Cellularor evenThe Pink Panther. Statham was still figuring out his screen persona during the 2000s, and it could be argued that he didn’t fully get a handle on it untilThe Expendables. Since then, Statham’s characters almost always tick the same boxes - and surviving to the end has become one of them.
Several of Jason Statham’s Movies Would Have Benefitted From Darker Endings
The Mechanic should have stayed true to the original movie
Again, Statham’s films are largely designed for mainstream audiences, so they don’t all need to end on down notes. Even so,there have been darker films like Steven Knight’sHummingbird(AKARedemption) or13that feel like they let Statham’s characters off the hook. The same is true ofThe Mechanic, a remake of a tough 1972 Charles Bronson thriller. Bronson’s film ended with his veteran hitman being slain by his protégé, but while Statham’s version builds towards the same conclusion, the final scene reveals he survived.
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The Fast and the Furious
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The sequel even dubbed itselfMechanic: Resurrectionto hit the point home. This again mirrors Stallone’s no-death rule, even though several ofSly’s movies, likeGet CarterorExpendables 4,would have worked better had they committed to more downbeat conclusions. In the same way Statham contractually stipulated his fights with Dwayne Johnson in theFast & Furiousmovies couldn’t feature his character Shaw losing, maybe he feels his characters perishing is a sign of weakness.
Jason Statham Should Break His No Death Rule To Shock Audiences
Getting munched halfway through The Meg 3 would give Statham fans a jolt
It doesn’t look like Stallone will break his no-death clause anytime soon, and Statham probably won’t either. Still, it’s a bad habit to fall into, and it would serve Statham well to be flexible with this rule. For instance, if Shaw got killed halfway throughFast 11(or whatever it ends up being titled) while redeeming his past mistakes, that would feel like a powerful end to Shaw’s arc. Even better,if Statham’s Jonas got eaten duringThe Meg 3, that would tap into that horror franchise’s B-movie tone.
Jason Statham remade a Sylvester Stallone cult favorite with 2008’sDeath Race.
It wouldn’t hurt Statham to introduce some layers of vulnerability to his protagonists, either. They rarely ever seem to get seriously wounded or beaten down, but mixing up his usual formula could make his films a little less predictable. That said, no-death rules have worked long-term for both him andSylvester Stallone,soJason Stathammay see no reason to mess with a winning formula.
