With over forty action films to his credit, Jason Statham is officially the UK’s biggest and most successful action star.

And despite being slightly long in the tooth, at the age of 58, he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down, as his latest action flick illustrates.

Living in a disused lighthouse on a remote island in the Outer Hebrides is Michael Mason (Statham). He lives there alone, with his dog for company, and has food delivered by boat by a man and his niece Jessie (Bodhi Rae Breathnach).

One day they try to deliver supplies during bad weather, so bad in fact that their boat subsides and sinks, with Mason only able to save Jessie.

She has hurt her ankle pretty badly, but he can’t risk taking her to hospital, so instead he travels to the mainland himself, to pick up some medical supplies.

Although he’s keen to avoid being spotted by security cameras, he’s unaware that he’s captured on a young woman’s phone camera, that alerts MI6.

He has kept hidden for a reason, hence living on a remote island, but now with his cover seemingly blown, he has not only put himself in danger, but Jessie too, as highly trained operatives are now out to get him.

It appears that Gerard Butler wasn’t available for this film, as its director Ric Roman Waugh has now made four films with him, but settled for Statham instead.

It’s slickly directed, especially considering its relatively low budget of $50 million, but its plot is dismally generic, with a man on the run with a young sidekick. It attempts to create a sense of mystery, in terms of Mason’s military past, and the MI6 chief, played by Bill Nighy, out to take him down, but it’s just unnecessary story padding, and by no means elevates the plot. It’s atmospheric, but without substance.

In fact the most interesting thing about it, is that it was partly shot on Lamb Island, a 100-by-50- metre Scottish island, that is owned by Uri Geller, who bought it for £30,000 in 2009, and gets a thanks credit at the end of the film.

Statham is very solid, proving he can still throw a punch, and perform a roundhouse kick, and that his action credentials don’t appear to be going anywhere anytime soon. It does feel he’s going through the generic motions with this one, and doesn’t offer anything more than that.

More often than not, you know exactly what to expect from Statham, and this is more of the same, offering nothing by way of surprises or originality, and there’s just no hiding from that.