This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Fighting Man Reservist
Plot Overview
After some demanding
tours in the Royal Marines, Levon Cade (Jason Statham) mustered out
(“I'm a different person now”) to care for his little
daughter Merry (Isla Gie) after his wife died of cancer. The
courts, however, didn't cotton to soldier fathers, so the
moneyed grandfather got primary custody. Levon took a job in
construction, got promoted to foreman, and is living out of
his truck to save up money.
Garcia and Family Construction employs
mostly Latinos along with the big Gringo foreman. The owner Joe
Garcia (Michael Peña) didn't know Levon used to be a soldier
until he saw him break up a fight one day. Joe's father was Green
Beret, and he recognized the skills. Evidently, a thorough
background check was unnecessary for employment. Joe's
daughter Carla (Noemi Gonzalez) received a full scholarship in
music but declined it to go into business school instead. The children of
legal immigrants are known for their ambition in the American Dream. In
fact she and her friends are going out to celebrate completing their first
semester; education is big among these people.
The girls
dress to the nines for their night on the town as is customary in
their culture with their female protected status against
unwarranted interest. They whoop it up in Hatties Saloon that
serves them alcohol despite their being underage, the cops
having been paid off, it seems. Underworld brokers mistake
them for the regular prostitute clientele who maximize attention
drawn, and pictures of Carla phoned to a pervert strike his fancy.
He has them kidnap her as they'd done others. Levon having told her
he has her back comes looking for her at the behest of her anxious
dad who holds no confidence in the cops. Through physical evidence,
meticulous notes, high tech trackers, busting heads, torture, and
arms, he makes serious inroads into the Russian Mafia.
Ideology
The “I've got your back” motif is heavily employed in this film, following a biblical formula: (Eccl. 4:9-12) “Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
Taking it a piece at a time, “they have a good reward for their labour.” When some outside troublemakers start pushing a construction worker around on site, Levon intervenes on his behalf and sends them packing before they can do serious damage and interfere with his labor. They get right back to work.
“If they fall, the one will lift up his fellow.” This is the main theme, Levon liberating Carla, who for her part took care of the bad girl while he was taking care of the bad guys.
“But woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.” The sheriff's car arrived without backup and was drilled with hostile gunfire, there being not another target to divide their fire.
“Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?” After Levon's wife died he was “hurting” being alone. His armorer Gunny Lefferty (David Harbour) though disabled with blindness had a cherishing wife to comfort him.
“And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” In the custody/visitation battle, the working man was up against a war of attrition by a lawyered-up rich grandpa, but the kid was on his side, and when her dad saved his life was able to plead for consideration. If all the parties agree, the court is more likely to go along.
Production Values
“” (2025) was directed by David Ayer. The script was written by Sylvester Stallone and David Ayer, as adapted from Chuck Dixon's novel, Levon's Trade. It stars Jason Statham, Michael Peña and Noemi Gonzalez. In this action-driven plot, the characters played to type without needing extensive development. The one surprise—though it needn't have been—was Noemi Gonzalez playing a bright, young, agile (“She's fast”) Latina whose career path was not to be a puta–corralled “princess”–captured runaway slave, not if she could help it. Victomhood was not something she'd settle for.
MPA rated
it R for strong violence, language
throughout, and drug content. The camera was consistently
focused in tight to emphasize the claustrophobic feeling of
the lead caught between a rock and a hard place. To prevail in
family court, he needed to project the image of a responsible
working man, but to save his boss' daughter he needed to be a
lawless vigilante. If he were so much as injured in the fracas, the
hospital, of course, would have to report it to the police, and the
granddad's lawyers would pick right up on it. As for playing
it straight, writer Karl Eska put it this way: “You think
that we should live by the law as the earth lives by the sun. But
do you see what the sun makes of the earth—if one doesn't
understand it? Desert” (134). It was filmed on location
in London, England, UK.
Runtime is a heart stopping 1 hour 56 minutes.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
We sure get a glimpse of a wicked world in this picture, and the man to set some of it right, a would-be working man, is neither the peacenik praying for its victims nor the soldier following orders. We're lucky if we never have to face such a dilemma. This is an action movie through and through. Decide accordingly.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Edge of your seat action-packed. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: For action aficionados. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture was cited from the King James Version, Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Eska, Karl. The Five Seasons. Copyright © 1954 by The Viking Press, Inc. New York: The Viking Press, 1954. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org