A Jason Statham action movie has received positive reviews once more forA Working Man, continuing the actor’s Rotten Tomatoes turnaround. Throughout his career, Jason Statham has become known as a star who can routinely deliver entertaining and successful action films. He did this once again in 2024 withThe Beekeeper. The movie was so successful critically and financially that he partnered up with director David Ayer again. That inspired confidence that the 2025 film would similarly be a success story and generally well-received by critics whenA Working Man’s Rotten Tomatoes score debuted.
Yet, Jason Statham does not have the best track record on Rotten Tomatoes overall. Heading intoA Working Man, his movies with “Rotten” scores (below 60%) outnumber the ones with “Fresh” scores (60% or above) nearly 3:1. Statham has had more success with critics in the last decade, though, and that continues withA Working Manhaving a 62% score on Rotten Tomatoesas of this writing. That’s still well behindStatham’s record-high Rotten Tomatoes scorefrom 10 years ago,Spy’s 95%, but the barely positive score is a significant milestone for him at the same time.
A Working Man Gives Jason Statham Consecutive Fresh Movies For The First Time Since 2021
He Is Now On A Fresh Streak
A Working Man’s reviewsmean Jason Statham now has consecutive Fresh movies on Rotten Tomatoes, followingThe Beekeeperearning a 71% score last year. This is significant asit’s been four years since he last had back-to-back movies be well-received by critics. 2019’sHobbs & Shawreceived a 67% score, and 2021’sWrath of Manhas a 69% rating. That was the last time Statham had consecutively Fresh movies on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s only happened one other time in his career too, with 2015’s double dose ofSpy(95%) andFurious 7(82%) being the first instance.
A Working ManandThe Beekeeper’s Fresh scores came at the perfect time for Jason Statham. He was amid a dismal four-movie streak on Rotten Tomatoes that transpired after his previous consecutive Fresh movies streak. 2023 was a brutal year for the actor, ashe starred in four movies that all got largely negative reviews.Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre(51%),Fast X(57%),Meg 2: The Trench(27%), andExpend4bles(14%) all came out that year and were widely criticized. It was his longest consecutive Rotten movies streak since 2015. Now, he’s back in critics' good graces.
The Beekeeper & A Working Man Are Exactly What Jason Statham Should Be Doing
The success thatA Working ManandThe Beekeeperhave had with critics, and audiences, is not surprising. These are the types of movies that Jason Statham should be doing. Due to his popularity and name recognition, he can sometimes get too bogged down by existing franchises.His abysmal four-movie Rotten streak beforeThe Beekeeperwas almost exclusively due to appearing in blockbuster franchiseswith poor characters, prolonged storylines, and unoriginal action.
These first installments are fun, original action movies that do a good job of just focusing on Jason Statham fighting bad guys
A Working ManandThe Beekeeperare the opposite. They aren’t sequels in a bigger franchise, so viewers can easily watch them without any baggage. Both may wind up launching franchises for Statham, but at the core, these first installments are fun, original action movies that do a good job of just focusing on Jason Statham fighting bad guys. That simplified approach helps them work. So while he will undoubtedly continue doing franchises, standalone action films likeA Working Manare better bets to do well on Rotten Tomatoes.
