My quick rating – 5.6/10. Mutiny starts with a truck speeding down the street. Right into another truck.
The first truck goes flipping over, because apparently we are starting at maximum volume and working backward. I’m sure we’ll come back to that. Then we get a look at the focused eyes of the driver, followed by the focused eyes of Jason Statham scanning a high-rise lobby. Clearly, we’re supposed to assume he was behind the wheel, and now he’s working security. Because when Jason Statham is looking at you like that, you just assume he has several very specific skills listed on his resume.
Cole Reed is protecting his billionaire industrialist boss when said billionaire is murdered right in front of him. Cole is immediately set up to take the fall, which seems like a pretty lousy day at work. Now he’s on the run, trying to clear his name while uncovering an international conspiracy, and naturally I settled in expecting the next 80 minutes to contain a healthy amount of ass-kicking.
And there is ass-kicking. Just not quite enough of the good stuff.
When Cole eventually ends up stowed away on a ship, he has apparently chosen the one vessel where things can somehow get even more complicated. He’s soon joined by Angie, played by Annabelle Wallis, who was somehow unaware of the illegal things floating with her. There are some fun action moments along the way, including a fight where blood splatters directly onto the camera lens. That was a nice little touch. The stunts are impressive, the camera stays where it belongs, and the movie doesn’t spend much time standing around explaining itself. Thankfully.
Unfortunately, Mutiny feels like something I’ve watched before. Several times.
Just another entry in Statham‘s growing collection of movies where an ordinary guy turns out to be extraordinarily capable of beating the living hell out of anyone in his way. The problem is that this one doesn’t bring much mystery, suspense, or urgency along for the ride. The story feels like a copy of the same basic formula, with a few different locations and a slightly different collection of people trying to kill him.
It’s still entertaining, and there’s even a little heart mixed in to soften the violence, but it never reaches the intensity of The Beekeeper or even Shelter. There are some creative kills and impressive stunts, but the movie is over before the story has much opportunity to become interesting.
If you’re a Statham fan, there’s enough here to keep you entertained. Just don’t expect this one to muscle its way to the top of his action-movie pile. It gets the job done, kicks a few people through walls, and leaves almost as quickly as it arrived.
