One Jason Statham Remake Of A Burt Reynolds Movie Beat The Original – But The Other Didn’t Come Close

Jason Statham has starred in two remakes of classic Burt Reynolds movies; one of those remakes fell short of the original, but the other actually surpassed its predecessor. Statham is one of the only remaining old-school movie stars in Hollywood. He has the smoldering charisma of Reynolds, the authentic hard-as-nails badassery of Charles Bronson, and the unabashed coolness of Paul Newman. He’s one of the only actors who can still turn an original story like The Beekeeper into a blockbuster hit at the box office.

But that doesn’t mean all his movies are originals. Statham has headlined his share of franchises, from The Meg to The Transporter to The Expendables, and he’s also joined the ensemble of other stars’ franchises to give them a much-needed shot in the arm, like Fast & Furious. Statham has expressed an interest in joining the James Bond series, he’s made a bunch of sequels to his movies, and he’s even remade some old classics — but some of these remakes have been better than others.

Jason Statham’s Wild Card Beat Burt Reynolds’ Movie

Wild Card Was A Remake Of 1986’s Heat

In 2015, Statham starred in Wild Card, an action thriller about a gambling addict in Vegas who takes odd jobs as a bodyguard (or “chaperone,” as he calls it) to pay off his debts. It was the second cinematic adaptation of William Goldman’s 1985 novel Heat after the 1986 version starring Reynolds as the gambler-turned-bodyguard. Goldman wrote the screenplays for both adaptations, and both movies were met with mostly negative reviews from critics, but Statham’s 2015 version is arguably an improvement over Reynolds’ 1986 effort.

Both Wild Card and Heat are predictable action movies that rely on recycled tropes and clichés from previous entries in the genre. But where Heat is a lukewarm, by-the-numbers affair, Wild Card has a stylish verve imbued by Con Air director Simon West. Statham is arguably better suited to this role than Reynolds was. Reynolds shares Statham’s movie-star charms, but he’s less convincing in the role of a tough guy. Goldman’s book wasn’t the right vehicle for Reynolds, but it was a perfect vehicle for Statham.

Jason Statham’s Take On Mean Machine Couldn’t Beat The Longest Yard

Mean Machine Is A Fun Movie, But It’s Not The Classic That The Longest Yard Is

Statham’s other remake of a Reynolds film didn’t fare so well. Mean Machine is a British reimagining of The Longest Yard, swapping out American football for association football. Jason Statham doesn’t play the Reynolds role; that honor goes to Vinnie Jones, who doesn’t quite have the acting chops to carry a whole movie. Mean Machine is an entertaining sports comedy, but The Longest Yard is a bona fide classic of the genre, and one of the crowning achievements of Burt Reynolds’ filmography.

Jason Statham

Birthdate

July 26, 1967

Birthplace

Shirebrook, Derbyshire, England, UK