‘Homefront’ Trailer: Jason Statham Breaks Some Bad Guys

 

Jason Statham’s had a fairly light 2013 so far. Parker and Redemption (which got a scant US release) both came and went without causing much of a fuss, while his appearance in Fast and Furious 6 can only be described as “brief” despite being incredibly cool. Come November, though, we’ll all have something to be thankful for; Statham’s looking to make up for lost time with Homefront, perhaps his most intriguing actioner of the year, if only based on who he locks horns with in the film’s trailer.

Over the course of the last decade and change, Statham has cultivated an image as an unstoppable anti-hero and taken on the likes of CIA assassins, fascist governments, drug cartels, and street gangs, but he’s never beefed with anyone quite like James Franco before. In Homefront, DEA agent Phil Broker (Statham) moves his daughter to an idyllic, peaceful Southern town but ends up running afoul of meth kingpin Gator (Franco) and his band of traffickers; naturally, Broker fights back, and all hell breaks loose.

Based on the disparity between Statham’s and Franco’s statures, that fight seems like it’ll be pretty one-sided - but Franco should be able to play up Gator’s creep factor pretty handily. In contrast to Statham, the last six months or so have been kind to Franco – outside of the Oz the Great and Powerful, he turned out one of his best performances to date with Spring Breakers and scored one of the biggest comedy winners of the year with This Is the End. Seeing the pair square off onscreen may be a bit odd, but in a way the choice feels kind of inspired despite coming from out of left field.