They and their army of soldiers find him casually enjoying a pleasant dinner, fancy table setting and all. Toretto, Brian O’Conner ( Paul Walker) and Mr Nobody (Kurt Russell, who almost takes the scene-stealer title himself with his cavalier attitude towards hipster beers and advertising Corona) storm the building where Shaw is hiding. Look, I know we’re all tired of the “villain gets themselves captured on purpose” trope – and I know we’re all tired of articles about this topic – but Shaw’s version is amazing, and Statham plays it so beautifully. off the road is a thing of beauty, and the stakes go up every time Statham drops his stoic facade to show just how much Shaw loves wreaking havoc. Statham’s cheeky smile as he rocks up to the Caucasus mountains to run Toretto and co. Shaw’s plan is pretty simple: wait until “the family” are in the middle of whatever scheme they’re working through, and stroll in, grinning, to wreck their shit.
In a franchise that is all about wisecracks and one-liners, Statham stands out with his no-frills, maximum-kills physical performance. Statham embodies a Terminator-style focus and drive that naturally counters the superhero theatrics of the Fast and Furious crew. He blows people up with mines, grenade launchers, oversized delivery parcels – and of course tries to murder Dominic Toretto (Diesel) with his car, over and over again. Sure, he has a brief chat with Dwayne Johnson before he puts him in the hospital as well, but from hereon in he basically just grunts and murders people. Two things to keep in mind about this sequence: it’s all in one take, and it’s pretty much all Jason Statham actually says in the movie. The hospital looks like it’s been hit by a tornado made of bullets, although the destruction isn’t complete until Shaw hands one more grenade to a SWAT officer as he strolls out to his Jaguar. Shaw goes on to deliver an insane monologue about revenge and stealing from the corner shop, before leaving a machine gun on Owen’s chest and making his way out of the hospital – well, what’s left of it. We open with Deckard Shaw (great name) looking out from the hospital room of his comatose brother Owen ( Luke Evans, villain of Fast and Furious 6 ). The Stath makes quite the entrance to the series, and immediately announces what he’s here to do: kill the Fast and Furious crew and walk away with the whole goddamn movie. Vin Diesel, Tyrese Gibson, even Ludacris – all of these actors are talented scene-stealers in their own right, but they’re up against hall-of-famers now: Dwayne Johnson, Kurt Russell and, of course, Jason Statham. The whole franchise is really just a scenery-chewing contest, a metatextual battle of bravado, and the competition only gets fiercer with each passing sequel. It’s tough to claim one cast member of Fast & Furious 7 as the definitive scene-stealer.