Mutiny Review
Statham is back. This time on a boat.
After his billionaire industrialist boss is murdered in front of him, Cole Reed (Jason Statham) is set up to take the fall for the crime. But he doesn’t go down quietly. Intent on avenging his former employer, he stows away aboard a ship with ties to the crime, and alongside Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), discovers that not all is as it seems. Amidst a hailstorm of gunfire, they must find a way to not just avenge the death of Reed’s former boss, but also right a dire wrong.
The thing about Mutiny is that you have already seen this movie time and time again. You know exactly what you’re in for before you ever sit foot in the cinema. But that doesn’t make it any less fun.
Statham cruises through this material. Whether it’s the half-baked family plot with his employer, the semi romantic plot with his ally on board, or the various other emotional beats, they all play in the same gruff manner as most of Statham’s other delivery.
The action, at least, is inventive at times. The myriad of different boat accoutrements - from fish hooks and harpoons, to stairwells and air ducts - are used to great effect to create action that sings and has you both grimacing at the surprising levels of gore, and cheering our hero on.
Unfortunately, some of the side characters don’t quite hold weight. The performances of pretty much everyone bar Statham and Rolan Moller are subpar, and at times cartoonish. But these brief moments tend to glide off you; after all, you’re not here for the side characters, and they largely become cannon fodder for our machismo military man.
In the end, this film floats on idly by, doing precisely what you expect. If you’re a Statham fan, this one will continue to be for you. If not, it’s unlikely to win any new fans.
