‘Expendables’ movies are essentially escapism: Jason Statham

MUMBAI: Actor Jason Statham, who has been playing Lee Christmas, the right hand man on the ‘Expendables’ team, in the franchise since 2010, has said that the movies from the franchise are essentially escapism.

Talking about the success of the franchise, Statham said that he thinks Sylvester Stallone has a great hand in it.

He said: “He has created these characters, and given us the identity within these characters. We are these guys that can’t navigate through life in general, and they are only good when they are together saving the world."

He thinks there is an appeal when it comes to the "dysfunctional guys with the same problems, as everyone else has in their life; they can’t hold a relationship down, one goes to therapy because he can’t think properly, the other one is just a bit of a whack job. Everyone has their cross to bear, and as long as you have these characters relatable, instead of them being these indestructible robots that don’t feel pain and never get hit. I think people can relate to that and these movies are essentially escapism."

The actor also shared his opinion on the world of cinema and music being slightly related.

"Some people like rock and roll, some people like country music, people don’t always have the same taste. If you like action movies, you like the ‘Expendables’, because we try and interject into these franchises what the expectations are for action movie junkies. We try to give a bit of care and attention, not just the action, but to some of the lesser stuff that is relevant.”

‘Expendables 4’ is set to debut in Indian theatres on September 22 in Hindi, English, Telugu and Tamil.