SPOILER-FREE PLOT SUMMARY
Cole Reed (played by Jason Statham), a former cop who’s dad was killed trying to protect him, is now a private bodyguard for Thailand billionaire Tibu (Ramon Tikaram). The shipping magnate has made the tough decision to sell KMG so his son, Kameron (Chaneil Kular), doesn’t feel pressured to follow in his footsteps. On the night of the sale, Tibu and Reed are ambushed where Tibu catches a bullet despite Reed laying waste to all involved. The bodyguard vows revenge and quickly realizes the local Bangkok police are somehow in the mix. After searching the body of an assailant, Reed finds a badge he can use to assume that assailant’s identity and follow the breadcrumbs to the attack. Those breadcrumbs allow him to board a shipping vessel captained by Marko Madsen (Roland Møller) who has just been told that a new third mate has been assigned to the voyage, Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis). When Reed discovers a shipping crate full of humans being trafficked, Ellis stumbles upon the same crate moments later and alerts the captain. After it becomes clear that this is a kidnapping situation that goes all the way to the bridge, Ellis discovers the stowaway Reed and the two of them team up to try and help the victims get to a lifeboat. Before they can, a shootout ensues and the two are forced to split up. Can Reed survive long enough to save the day? Can Ellis get free long enough to call for help?
SPOILER-FREE REVIEW
The worst part about a Jason Statham movie is you know exactly what you’re going to get. Ironically, the best part about a Jason Statham movie is you know exactly what you’re going to get. He plays Cole Reed the same way he played Adam Clay in THE BEEKEEPER, Levon Cade in A WORKING MAN, Michael Mason in SHELTER and so on and so on. While you’re not going to get any range, you are going to get a fun, mindless ride at the theater.
The addition of Wallis is fine but it’s purely for plot advancement as usually Statham’s character is going through the mission alone (or, at most, with support from afar). Anybody could’ve played this part and there’s nothing unique about what she brings to the table.
Directed by Jean-François Richet, MUTINY offers very few enhancements over the usual genre offering. Like Wallis’s character of Ellis, anybody could’ve directed this movie and it would’ve turned out exactly the same.
Sure, the action scenes are fun at times and, yes, the audience does wonder how Reed is going to save the victims in the middle of the ocean but, at the end of the day, there are so many better, more exciting and definitely more intriguing action movies so why settle for this unless you’re just a die hard fan of its star?
If you want a better Jason Statham movie, watch SHELTER. If you want an elite action thriller, watch THE FURIOUS. But, if you want a typical, run-of-the-mill, turn-your-brain-off night out then, by all means, MUTINY is for you.
JKG SCORE: 5.5 out of 10
Untitled Film Project 