Mutiny

by Mike McGranaghan

Jason Statham works in three different modes. Sometimes he makes an “A” picture, like Spy or one of the Fast & Furious movies. Other times, he makes a formulaic action movie with some kind of twist to keep it a little more interesting. The Beekeeper and Crank are good examples. The rest of the time, he makes generic actioners that are practically interchangeable. Mutiny finds him operating in that last mode.

He plays Cole Reed, the personal bodyguard to the billionaire owner of a shipping company in Bangkok. When his employer is murdered, he sets out to make the responsible parties pay. That leads him to stow away on a cargo ship, helmed by the devious Captain Marko Madsen (Roland Møller). On that ship, he finds a container filled with human trafficking victims. Cole makes it a secondary mission to help them, with assistance from the ship’s third mate, Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis).

That “I need to get revenge” plot has fueled several of Statham’s films, from Safe to Wrath of Man to A Working Man. It’s hauled out again here, hitting all the predictable beats at precisely the moments you expect them to be hit. The sole difference is that those beats are hit within the confines of the cargo ship. Even the human trafficking angle feels overused by this point, the crime having been the driving force of countless action flicks since Taken back in 2008.

A few basic pleasures can be found amid the familiar material. Director Jean-François Richet (Plane) effectively stages some brutal fight scenes in the boat’s cramped hallways and staircases. A sequence where Cole gets trapped inside a ventilation shaft is pretty tense, too. The grand finale is the best part of all – a no holds barred bloodbath involving knives, axes, and Cole briefly dangling from the side of the boat. Mutiny earns its R rating in the violence department, although it takes considerably longer to get to the brawling than you might expect.

Giving credit where due, Jason Statham is very appealing as an onscreen ass-kicker. You might not be able to tell Cole Reed apart from Levon Cade, Adam Clay, Nick Wild, Luke Wright, or any of the other characters he’s played in generic action fare, but the guy absolutely has charisma. I admit finding him fun to watch, regardless of the quality of the movie he’s in. Annabelle Wallis is a rare female co-star to not disappear into the background opposite the actor, so it’s a shame that Angie is a one-note figure. If you guessed she simply wants to get back home to her young daughter, give yourself a gold star.

While rarely blockbusters in America, these photocopied Statham action pictures earn enough globally to ensure they keep being made. And maybe that’s the thing about Mutiny. It fills a void, giving the fans exactly what they want, namely to see the star surrounded by a maximum of violence and a minimum of story. For me, this one is on the upper end of his mediocre work. Moderately entertaining, nothing special, seen it all before.