Jason Statham is not normally the man you might expect to see in a Steve Knight drama about London’s seedy underbelly. But then, Knight’s scripts – as directed in the past by the likes of Stephen Frears and David Cronenberg – have always boasted a little edge and violence. So it somehow seems more natural for The Stath to star in Knight’s directorial debut, Hummingbird. Check out the trailer.
We say “debut” even though Knight called the shots on a few episodes of Jasper Carrott/Robert Powell police spoof series The Detectives, but then this is a little bit different.
Hummingbird finds Statham as Joseph “Joey” Jones, a former Special Forces soldier who tries to avoid a court martial and ends up homeless on the street.
Looking to get himself sorted once more, Joey breaks into a rich businessman’s apartment and attempts to re-invent himself. But once more he gets dragged into London’s criminal underworld.
This represents more of an acting turn than usual for The Stath, though he does get a chance to break out some of his patented arse-kicking action. Hummingbird will hit our screens on May 17.