10 years later, Furious 7 remains Jason Statham’s most successful project. There are several metrics that can be used to deduce exactly which of Jason Statham’s movies is the best or at least most impactful, one of which is their box office performance. Furious 7 takes place within the Fast & Furious universe, introducing Statham’s character as the vengeful brother of the previous film’s villain, seeking revenge against Vin Diesel’s protagonist Dom Toretto for his actions against his family.
While Jason Statham’s career has remained firmly in the action genre throughout the years, the actor has always been willing to step outside of his comfort zone and tackle characters that don’t necessarily fit his “leading man” image. Furious 7 was a perfect example of this, and it gave Statham’s career a whole new dimension that many audiences hadn’t seen from him before on that scale. Not only is Furious 7 one of the best Fast & Furious movies, but it also deserves credit for pushing Statham’s career to a whole other level.
Jason Statham Plays The Villain In His Highest-Grossing Movie
Furious 7 Allowed Statham To Play Against Type
Statham’s role in Furious 7 is more villainous and intimidating than most of the characters he’s played in the past. While Statham is admittedly no stranger to playing violent, stoic roles in films such as The Transporter and The Expendables, this sequel is among the first projects in his filmography where he clearly plays a villain. His character Deckard Shaw was a perfect addition to the franchise, which had developed a reputation for its somewhat weak villains and had yet to find a “new Hobbs” after Fast Five.
Deckard Shaw has some excellent quotes and memorable scenes throughout the Fast & Furious saga, and it’s fair to say that his introduction offered a breath of fresh air for the franchise. The series had been increasing in popularity ever since Fast Five, and it was clearly on the road to breaking $1 billion eventually – Statham was just the secret ingredient needed to push Furious 7 over that box office milestone.
Deckard Shaw Was Not A Villain For Too Long After Furious 7
The Character Had A Surprising Redemption
Statham’s character was given a redemption arc in the later Fast & Furious sequels that saw him develop from a well-rounded villain into a more complex, ambiguous figure who began to work alongside the very people he wanted to kill in Furious 7. This was a very unpredictable turn of events for the character, particularly after killing Han (one of Toretto’s closest friends) directly after being introduced. This was a crime that most audiences didn’t think Shaw could be redeemed for, but the sequels at least tried to make the character arc feel natural.
F9 brought Han back, thus retconning what Shaw did and making his redemption easier to digest.
While most of the Fast & Furious villains are unambiguously evil, Deckard Shaw was always a character with more blurred motivations, which made his interactions with Toretto’s team more interesting to watch. The franchise capitalized on these dynamics, particularly the one with Dwayne Johnson, by bringing Statham back for Hobbes & Shaw, a spinoff that followed the entertaining rivalry between Deckard Shaw and Agent Hobbes.
Statham’s Characters Can Be Ambiguous But Are Rarely Villains
The Actor Often Plays Morally Ambiguous Heroes
It’s perhaps surprising to say that Furious 7 was among Jason Statham’s first “villain” roles because his characters are rarely good people. He’s known for playing immoral figures who resort to violence to solve their problems, but since he’s usually the main character of these projects, it’s easier to understand their actions. That’s not to say they’re necessarily empathetic or likable people, but it’s hard to call them “villains” when it’s their perspective that the audience is experiencing the story through. Even Jason Statham’s best action movies have some very unlikable characters at the center.
But in Furious 7, Statham is clearly playing a more traditional villain who gets to interact with other famous action heroes on-screen. It’s a specific dynamic that audiences hadn’t really seen from the actor before, and it was undeniably a huge draw for this late-era sequel in the Fast & Furious series. Following Deckard’s redemption, it would be interesting to see Jason Statham tackling another villainous role in a movie of the same scale as Furious 7.
