‘Mutiny’ review: A sad Statham of affairs

Jason Statham and the director of Plane hit the high seas with middling results in another undercooked action thriller Mutiny.

Hollywood is running out of ways to use Jason Statham. It’s understandable that studios still see money to be made from bald British bruiser in routine action movie plots. They’ve been helping him jump between slight variations of an ex-con/ex-cop/ex-fighter at a fairly consistent rate for the last 15 years. This way they can keep the simplest and cheapest form of action entertainment afloat just in case the superhero movie bubble finally pops, and one man will still be around…the Stath. Unfortunately, Hollywood might be running out of rounds to load into the chamber and keep firing off fist-flying quickies.

The latest case is Mutiny, which sees the Stath play brooding ex-cop Cole Reed. After the death of his father, Cole gave up cop life and is working as a bodyguard for a billionaire in Thailand. All is going well and understated until one night when his boss is murdered in a setup involving local police and a mysterious industrialist. Cole finds one of the killers booked as a crew member on a carrier vessel under his boss’s company. Furrowing his brow under suspicion of a conspiracy, Cole sneaks onto the boat looking for answers. He finds a pretty shocking one; the containers on the boat are carrying imprisoned refugees meant for trafficking. Now with the help of the ship’s third mate (Annabelle Wallis), Cole must fight off the crew to save the prisoners.

Sink or swim.

Mutiny is directed by Jean-François Richet, a French veteran with a few flirtations in American action flicks (the remake of Assault on Precinct 13, Blood Father). Richet had some recent success with another modern action veteran; Gerard Butler in the 2023 jungle rescue Plane. We can assume Richet and co-writer J.P. Davis (also from Plane) were brought into the Statham wheelhouse for their balancing of high concept and easy solution in their plotting. They put their hero in an elaborate, yet grounded setting (an abandoned airstrip in Plane, a cargo vessel here) that he can simply punch and/or shoot their way out of.

Photo Credit: Dan Smith/Lionsgate

The ship in Mutiny certainly seems vast and imposing, but Richet doesn’t take advantage of the opportunity to craft unique fight scenes on such a sizable set. Statham spends most of the movie in stealth mode through the engine room and the cargo bay, not getting the chance to do anything else but shoot guns or throw hands. You’d think he’d get to have fun with the premise by whipping a bad guy with a boat line or tying someone to an anchor, but no. The few fight scenes are bloody and brutal, with Statham once again proving his skills at close-quarters combat in the penultimate takedown in the tight staircase. Still, there’s only so many times you can see the Stath quietly brood down a room full of pipes before you want him to go full Schwarzenegger in Commando.

Our fateful crew.

Now if you’re expecting the rest of the movie to pick up the slack, that ship has already sailed. Action scripts don’t need to have Sorkin levels of complexity, but Mutiny is as bare bones as it gets when it comes to its mystery and characters. The villain is presented with such a whimper that he’s practically out of focus in the shot. You can also easily predict who else is involved in the so-called “conspiracy” right as they enter the frame. If you want to know more about Cole, don’t worry because there’s a whole scene of exposition telling you all of his awesome fighting skills and “emotional” backstory to make you think he’s a three-dimensional character. It might as well be A.I.-generated.

How do we talk about Statham as an actor anymore? If you’ve seen one of his movies, you can pretty much predict all the emotions he brings to Mutiny. He’ll shift between stoicism and grimace with a tough guy one-liner or maybe some flashes of compassion for whoever he’s saving/avenging. The frustrating thing is that we know he can bring more to this. He’s charming in interviews, can deliver a lighter energy in more ridiculous movies like The Meg, and is clearly aware of being a poster boy for dumb action schlock. But Spy is over 10 years old now, and Statham hasn’t done enough to capitalize on the chance to take riskier roles. Now all he has is The Beekeeper, or Mutiny, or whatever other limp script he can fit his bland action personality into.

The bottom line.

At this point, we have to start grading Statham movies on a curve. Mutiny is by no means a “good” movie, but it’s not as miserable as A Working Man while also not being as ridiculous as The Beekeeper. Maybe it’s better than Shelter? Or not as gripping as Wrath of Man? But probably more fun than Wild Card? Are these real movies? Are they any good? Well…Jason Statham’s in it. What does that even mean anymore?

Mutiny is now playing in theaters everywhere. Watch the trailer below.

Images courtesy of Dan Smith/Lionsgate.

Jon Winkler