Directed by: Jean-Francois Richet
Written by: Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis
Starring: Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Ramon Tikaram, Roland Moller, Adrian Lester, Chaneil Kular, and Simon Kluth
Runtime: 87 minutes
‘Mutiny’ doesn’t stay afloat
In “Mutiny”, Cole Reed (Jason Statham) leads a one-man uprising on a cargo ship, called the Artemis, against a crew of 20 (plus one captain and an additional small group of newcomers). For anyone who has enjoyed Statham – a Bona fide action-movie star – raise fisticuffs and firearms fury against a collection of baddies before, one knows that the antagonists are in deep trouble. Yes, deep trouble of the ocean-depth kind, especially since director Jean-Francois Richet’s and screenwriters Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis’ movie is primarily set on the said vessel that sails from the Gulf of Thailand and then somewhere into the great beyond.
For diehard Statham fans, “Mutiny” navigates a chance to see the ever-ready, British-born bruiser dispose of villains in the most merciless manner, including Cole utilizing a pair of handy props readily found on a boat as deadly weapons.
Granted, Richet and the writers conjure up four or five kills that will elicit audible exclamations from movie theatre audiences, but there are not enough of these gleefully violent moments to offset the paper-thin, cliché revenge plot.
“Mutiny” feels like the filmmakers’ sole goal is to simply ask Jason to do his thing (i.e., dispense brutality) at sea during a shallow 87-minute runtime (according to this critic’s watch), which he does, as opposed to on land or in the air.
After a brief opening scene – that could be a flashback or flashforward – the film’s next couple of minutes show Mr. Reed scouting out a skyscraper’s lobby, located in Bangkok, Thailand, for potential trouble. He works for Tibu Campallo (Ramon Tikaram), the head of KMG, a leader in the shipping industry. Cole, a former police officer, now works as Tibu’s head of security. Still, Cole is more than an employee. Tibu thinks of him as family! This billionaire-and-bodyguard family/friendship is legit.
Cole would lay his life on the line for Tibu, and Mr. Reed is put to the test during the first act. Mercenaries ambush Cole and Tibu on Bangkok’s streets with an avalanche of gunfire. Let’s not divulge if KMG’s CEO passes away or not, but Cole effectively shoots back. After the ruckus abruptly ends, Cole seeks to discover who attempted to murder his employer/friend/figurative kin.
One of the gun-popping scoundrels is a crewman for a KMG ship. You don’t say! Since the aforementioned outlaw is bald, Cole decides to assume his identity, board the ship, and do some police work!
Although Cole doesn’t take advantage of his follically-challenged condition and inexplicably wears a hat when trying to board. Why? Perhaps, he wears a ballcap to hide his appearance because the crewmates know his alter ego? It’s a bit confusing.
What’s not confusing is that Cole attempts to mow down the crew, including Captain Marko Madsen (Roland Moller), especially after Mr. Reed discovers that the ship is being used for human trafficking.
Luckily, Cole finds an ally in the form of the ship’s third mate, Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), who is a recent KMG hire and not at all part of the crew’s nefarious plans. Cole and Angie are outraged over this unconscionable development, and Ms. Ellis states that there are a few dozen victims on board. But Richet and cinematographer Brendan Galvin’s camera never shows more than about a dozen (at the very most, and it’s more like nine) unfortunate souls that are held in one shipping container.
Obviously, one victim is too many, but this is a massive ship, and one would think that Angie’s math and the number of actual individuals would agree or at least land within the same ballpark.
Despite Angie’s (or the filmmakers’) challenges with calculations, she and Cole make a positive, workable team. The film adds a few mentions of Angie’s daughter waiting at home to help gain our sympathy, but Angie is physically capable in a fight and seems to have learned some weapons training in the past. Still, Cole does most of the killing, while Marko repeatedly jumps on the walkie-talkie and orders his men – who might as well be cardboard cutouts - to finish the job with this stowaway, but when it comes to slaying a Statham action-hero character, well…good luck!
The crew members feel disposable, and so does the story, and Statham’s four or five particularly vicious kills over almost 90 minutes doesn’t make for a worthwhile theatrical experience.
Admittedly, Statham and Tikaram share some nice foundational moments that develop a palpable on-screen bond with their characters, but Cole’s eventual trek to jettison around a ship – where we often don’t realize where he is in relation to the bridge - to eliminate the degenerate crew is about as paint-by-numbers as it gets, and the color is a dull gray.
Cole is all business but doesn’t possess a colorful personality. He could have used Adam Clay’s (Statham) lines from “The Beekeeper” (2024), a Statham action-hero vehicle, which frequently causes smiles (or eye rolls, depending on your perspective) when he says the following puns in relation to the movie’s title:
“Sometimes, when the hive is out of balance, you have to replace the queen.”
“When someone hurts an older person, sometimes they’re left to face the hornets alone.”
“I need to take care of the hive.”
“Mutiny” doesn’t really have any dialogue sweeteners, as noted with Stratham’s 2024 film, and unfortunately, the human trafficking element doesn’t pull on our heartstrings like it should, even though the script – a couple of times - refers to a little girl needing medical attention.
Well, by paying a little attention, you can decipher the ultimate reason for the attempted assassination of Tibu eons before it’s revealed in the third act, and it’s about as predictable as a proficient ship successfully mastering buoyancy.
Unfortunately, the movie has problems with buoyancy. “Mutiny” sinks.
Jeff’s ranking
1.5 / 4 stars
