"For most big movie studios, January is a dumping ground, a dry, dead place to unload whatever cinematic leftovers they couldn't bother promoting during better attended theatrical seasons. But for director Ric Roman Waugh, January is the perfect time to have grizzled, waning action stars confront their mortality. In fact, Waugh's so fecund he's brought two movies to the box office graveyard of early 2026."
"Waugh directed the third entry, Angel Has Fallen (2019), as a grounded thriller suffused with the ghosts of PTSD. Turning away from the xenophobic mayhem of previous entry London Has Fallen, in Angel Waugh portrays mass-murdering secret service agent Mike Banning (Butler) as a deeply broken soldier attempting to scavenge meaning from a life spent sacrificing for the US Imperium."
Ric Roman Waugh times gritty action films for January releases, bringing two movies to early 2026: Greenland 2: Migration and Shelter. Shelter continues Jason Statham's return to a near-wordless, violent operative forced back into a secret vocation. Waugh's filmography includes seemingly disposable direct-to-video titles such as Felon and Snitch that nevertheless contain craft and seriousness beneath cheap genre names. Waugh directed Angel Has Fallen (2019), portraying Mike Banning as a deeply broken soldier haunted by PTSD and sacrifice. Waugh blends grief, trauma, aging bodies, and physical spectacle to deepen familiar action movie tropes.
Read at Portland Mercury
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