Statham Climbs Aboard Mutiny for the Suitably Bombastic Violent Thrills
The worst thing about the new Jason Statham action film Mutiny is that the title is a lie: there is no mutiny. Other than that? Much like he did with the aptly titled Plane, director Jean-François Richet orchestrates a serviceable, suitably violent thriller that delivers pretty much everything the target audience wants to see. There are hissable villains, exciting set pieces, and an adrenalized pace that keeps events briskly moving for all 95 minutes. The film plays like a Cannon Films programmer from the 1980s, and I mean that as a compliment.
Cole Reed (Statham) is a former Royal Marine who has worked the last five years as the head of security for international shipping magnate Tibu Campallo (Ramon Tikaram). When Tibu is murdered and Cole is framed, the angry ex-soldier isn’t so much concerned with clearing his name as he is with exacting lethal vengeance against those who orchestrated the assassination of his friend.
But when he smuggles himself aboard the massive cargo ship Artemis, this ferocious avenger discovers the horrifying truth that someone has been secretly using some of Tibu’s vessels for a profitable international human trafficking operation. With the aid of Artemis’s third-in-command Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), Cole is determined to save the kidnapped innocents and kill anyone who stands in his way, fighting through the ship’s mercenary crew until he’s face-to-face with their sadistic captain, the bloodthirsty wannabe Viking Marko Madsen (Roland Møller).
We’ve seen this all before (and in much better movies), but I was still entertained. Statham’s character wants revenge, and Møller’s sadistic baddie is the primary obstacle he has to overcome to get it. Other than that? Chaos reigns. Bullets, knives, axes, fists, and feet fly with requisite abandon, and Richet proves again he’s a solid craftsman where generating excitement is concerned. He doesn’t allow editors David Rosenbloom (The Insider) and Joe Rosenbloom (Cop Shop) to overcut things into incoherence, while cinematographer Brendan Galvin (Plane) manufactures a visual exuberance that’s commendable.
Does any of this make Mutiny great? No. Character development is kept to a bare minimum, plot cliches abound, and everything moves toward a conclusion that offers up zero surprises whatsoever. Attempts at intermittent humor fall flat, and a late scene trying to manufacture a symbiotic connection between Cole and Tibu’s grieving son Kameron (Chaneil Kular) falls laughably flat.
But the violence is frequently clever — and cleverly brutal (if not for the faint of heart) — and the relationship between Cole and Angie as they move from wary co-protectors of the innocent to trusted ride-or-die allies is far stronger than it has any right to be. The final confrontation between Statham and Møller is also well worth the wait, their take-no-prisoners fight to the death a bone-crunching triumph.
I could say more, but why bother? Mutiny isn’t Statham at his best (and I do still long for the days when the actor was willing to challenge himself with roles in features as diverse as The Bank Job, Redemption, and Spy), but it’s light years away from the action icon at his worst, either. For what it’s worth, Richet crafts an exhilarating late-summer programmer with more highs than it has lows. For fans, and you know who you are, go ahead and climb aboard; I seriously doubt you’ll be disappointed.
Film Rating: 2½ (out of 4)
