MUTINY Review: Jason Statham Kills On Rough Waters In Jean-François Richet’s New Action Thriller
Mutiny opens in theaters on August 21 from Lionsgate.
Image: Dan Smith/Lionsgate
Jason Statham is right where he fits in the world of film and entertainment as today’s equivalent of the likes of Chuck Norris and Dirty Harry. Long since breaking out in music videos and as a serious actor under auteurs like Guy Ritchie and John Carpenter, he’s since cut his teeth over the years in a myriad of roles which have mostly in projects that have landed him front and center as the point man for many an action spectacle over the years. His biggest move way back when was in 2002, taken under the wing of Corey Yuen post-The One for a trilogy of Transporter movies, in addition to sticking with the action genre through the Expendables and Fast And Furious franchise, films like Wild Card, Homefront, Parker, and even the Melissa McCarthy-led Spy, Wrath Of Man, among others of late.
Keeping in consistency with the trend, the formidable man of action hailing from newer hits like Shelter, The Beekeeper, and A Working Man now takes the reigns as an ex-cop/soldier-turned-bodyguard out for a vengeful kill in Mutiny, directed by Meserine: Killer Instinct director Jean-François Richet and making firm use out of the resources over at Pinewood Studios and other locations to flesh out the most of this contained ninety-minute action thriller. The film was co-written handily by a pair of writers: actor and screenwriter J.P. Davis who wrote Chris Pine’s stoic, propulsive 2022 action drama, The Contractor, and Richet’s 2023 flick, Plane, and co-writer Lindsey Michael, and also sees a cast that includes Annabelle Wallis, Ramon Tikaram, Roland Møller, and Chaneil Karam, as well as Simon Kluth and Adrian Lester CBE.
The plot for Mutiny is also as simple as aforementioned. It’s straightforward and from the moment the movie starts, you don’t have to wait too long before the first devastating moment bludgeons you in the senses, courtesy of Cole Reed (Statham) who we first meet on the job as the personal protection specialist – and friend, even – to Tibu (Tikaram), a shipping tycoon in Thailand on his way out with eyes on selling his company so that his son (Karam) can pursue his dreams. Not a moment sooner after Tibu’s retirement party, Cole’s car is ambushed with both parties inside, forcing Cole to take measures to dispatch the threat as soon as possible, but not before Tibu is fatally shot and compels Reed to look after his son on his deathbed.
Image: Dan Smith/Lionsgate
Almost immediately, Cole’s name is in the news as he’s framed for Tibu’s murder just as he connects the dots in real time with all signs pointing to Tibu’s company cargo ship, the Artemis, infiltrating the ship in order to investigate Tibu’s murder, his killers, and the conspiracy driving the crime. Upon quickly connecting the dots, Cole makes a horrific discovery in the ship’s bowels after spotting dozens of migrants in a container trapped in inhumane conditions out of Thailand. Contributing to the odds is the ship’s dogged and equally devious captain Madsen (Møller) who knows full well than he’s letting on, backed by twenty men doing his bidding, with the addition of Angie (Wallis), a single mother and probationary employee forced by the company to take the work at the last minute. Just as she’s makes the rounds and spots the same migrants, she soon finds herself just as outnumbered and alongside Reed, as the two tread the ship’s narrows and halls to survive Madsen and his squad of ruthless mercs.
From that moment on, Mutiny is a race against time and bullets, backed by fitting and solid performances by Statham and the cast, including Kluth who plays a mysterious figure arriving late at Tibu’s party, and Naval Captain Adam Spencer (Lester CBE). Wallis’s portrayal of Angie makes for a salubrious offering to the Statham vehicle as a character that holds her own and isn’t compromised by any internal or external factors amidst her situation, and gels excellently with Statham on screen thick and thin. Møller’s casting as the vindictive Madsen is as menacing as required, and well-timed in his reveal as the big bad – or something close to it, lest I disclose too much.
The weight of the film’s earlier upheaval dissipates almost enough as the film pulls you full throttle into all the usual respite gun battle and footchase thrills the film has to offer, and some of this is smartly done in that there’s more in store by the end of the film. As far as pace goes, Mutiny almost certainly matches any of Statham’s predecessors with an easy-enough-to-digest story and an adequate runtime to pack it all into. There’s nothing new in that effort, so all that’s left to lean on from there are the stakes, and the incumbent action, stunts, and set pieces that are all par for the course in Richet’s otherwise taut, intense thrillride.
The action, especially, is by far the biggest seller with stunts coordinated by Steve Griffin, with fight scenes by Godefroy Ryckewaert and Laurent Buson making use of Statham’s bonafide screenfighting prowess where it counts, and enhancing it with plenty of close quarters scrimmages and cutthroat choreography. If he PR you may or may not have spotted online featuring Statham promoting an action figure with his screen likeness tickled the curiousity any, you’ll be pleased to see how he puts some of the latter tools left at his disposal to use. Wanna see goons get shot up and splattered across the lens, stabbed and hooked in the face and harpooned in the head? Mutiny is your movie.
There’s one moment in the aftermath that takes its cues from The Rock which I kind of liked – if you know the scene, you might have an idea of what I mean. Apart from this, the script doesn’t do much toward its finish to cover its bases. By then, the revelation made to the viewer is treated with the kind of perfunctory approach that makes the film’s ballistic finale feel a little less climatic than preferred.
These aspects bode exemplary of how resonant future Statham action thrillers will need to be in their conclusions, with villains more suited to the meet the moment when the audience is expected to feel something other than satisfied. To this, if the bar isn’t too high for you and you’re just looking for an escape with Statham right in his wheelhouse, surely Mutiny won’t sink before you can swim.
Mutiny is a Madriver Pictures and Punch Palace Productions production.
Native New Yorker. Been writing for a long time now, and I enjoy what I do. Be nice to me!
