Mutiny
Jason Statham stretches his muscular versatility to play an ex-cop and former Royal Marine helping out a group of trafficked refugees.
Shipshape: Jason Statham
Photo courtesy of StudioCanal.
by JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
The title is a tad misleading, but the formula remains the same. However, it’s not Jason Statham who makes this generic thriller work so well as its director Jean-François Richet. Richet previously brought us the gut-wrenching remake of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005) and the rousing Gerard Butler thriller Plane (2013) – and he knows how to deliver the goods. This time the Stath plays a highly honoured ex-cop, former Royal Marine (et al) who’s been forced to relocate from England to Bangkok and now works for Tibu Campallo (Ramon Tikaram), an honourable shipping magnate who is proud of how he made his billions. Cole Reed (a typical Statham monicker) is his trusted bodyguard who has developed a close bond with his employer, playing chess with him into the early hours. The opening minutes are pure Richet: telling details planted into the narrative as we learn as much as we need to and, as this is a Jason Statham vehicle, we know everything will soon go pear-shaped with only Cole Reed around to save the day. Think Die Hard on the high seas.
The scenes of Bangkok are neatly set up, with no patronising captions telling us what is what – or where. It’s all there in the script and of course there’s a capable, beautiful blonde thrown into the mix to add some gender balance. The theme here is human trafficking and Cole finds himself on a container ship staffed by ex-military nasties with a Danish captain (Roland Møller) with the scruples of a cobra. Quite how Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis) ends up on the good ship Artemis is not exactly clear, but she’s a good match for Cole as he dispenses some serious damage on the bad guys.
Cole tells Tibu that, as an ex-copper, he misses the action, but not the politics, and it seems a shame that he’s not setting things right in the Strait of Hormuz. There are no great surprises, but the stunt work is of a superior upper cut, allowing Cole to rip a baddie’s face in half with the shank of an industrial-sized padlock. Others meet their demise in more traditional ways, but we are spared tedious scenes of endless combat as none of them stay alive for long. Adrian Lester is a surprising addition as a US Navy captain: instead of using his gift for Shakespeare, the actor is asked to utter lines like, “A cop-killing fugitive? Just what this shitshow is missing…” Humour is actually fairly thin on the ground but the Statham faithful will not be disappointed. This is popcorn escapism with a mean, lean edge with some serious violence, which is surely just what the doctor ordered.
Cast: Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Roland Møller, Adrian Lester, Ramon Tikaram, Arnas Fedaravicius, Jason Wong, Chaneil Kular, Simon Kluth, Ben Cartwright, Eugénie Richet.
Dir Jean-François Richet, Pro Marc Butan and Jason Statham, Screenplay Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis, Ph Brendan Galvin, Pro Des Russell De Rozario, Ed David Rosenbloom, Music Marcus Trumpp, Costumes Loulou Bontemps, Sound Phil Freudenfeld and Federico Modanese.
MadRiver Pictures/Punch Palace Productions-Studio Canal.
95 mins. UK/USA. 2025. UK and US Rel: 21 August 2026. Cert. 15.
