What do you get when you put Die Hard on a boat or essentially remake Under Siege with Steven Seagal? The answer: you get Mutiny with Jason Statham. However, this isn’t a bad thing because Die Hard and Under Siege are two of the best action movies, and why shouldn’t we have a Jason Statham movie where he has to rescue hostages on a boat and kill the bad guys! It’s very formulaic, and that is the essence of pretty much any Jason Statham movie. I’m not complaining; I’m not telling you that you shouldn’t see this movie because it is highly entertaining, but as a critic I have to be honest: you pretty much know what you get with Jason Statham, and if you’re going to copy a certain action movie formula then you might as well copy from two of the best action movies ever. But is this movie fun and worth seeing? Yes, because it is pure entertainment where you get lots of cool deaths, and sometimes that’s all you need.
In this latest Jason Statham movie, he plays a bodyguard who ends up on the ship of a shipping magnet only to discover that they’re involved in sex trafficking. In typical Jason Statham fashion, he’s going to save the f@#$ing day. I mean, that’s not really a spoiler, because you know how it’s going to end without even seeing the movie. Jason Statham action movies are to modern filmmaking what pretty much every John Wayne western was to classic filmmaking…the same kind of movie where a tough guy takes on corruption and wins! I’m not really making fun of that formula because it works and it entertains us, and that’s exactly what Mutany is supposed to do. But the best part of this movie is the claustrophobic nature of having to stop the bad guys on a ship. It works, and then you throw in a damsel in distress, you got yourself an entertaining movie. Annabelle Wallis place to female protagonist who gets caught up in the sex trafficking conspiracy, helping the hero save the day. She’s great in the movie. It may not be her best role, but she’s good and entertaining. She’s one of the best parts of the movie. The story is not as important in this movie as the action because, as long as the action delivers, the rest doesn’t really matter, and that’s exactly what this movie accomplishes. It’s really the best part of the movie. Also, Jason Statham gives a great performance, like he always does within this genre. If you’re a fan of his movies, then you’re going to like this one.
It’s hard to criticize a movie that knows what it is and it’s not trying to be something else. It’s a straight-up action movie where the bad guys are going to lose against a hero who knows martial arts and plenty of ways to kill someone. The backstory of the main character doesn’t even have to be unique, and it’s not. Jason Statham has certainly played this character before. But again, I’m not complaining because John Wayne did it lots of times in westerns, and you stick with what works. This movie could have been the sequel to The Beekeeper for his latest movie, Shelter, but this time he’s taking on sex traffickers. It’s not a great movie, but as I said, it’s highly entertaining, and I will admit that some of the death scenes are fantastic. I’m not going to say the movie is good and it’s biggest flaw is it’s the same movie that we always see with Jason Statham except when he’s in The Expendables films with Sylvester Stallone but just like those classic ’80s action movies that are over the top with great one-liners and gruesome deaths, this movie delivers very much in the same way and harkens back to when action movies were “King” in Hollywood. For that reason, I don’t criticize Jason State them basically doing the same movie over and over because it doesn’t have to be unique. If you go into this film expecting something different than any other Jason Statham film, then you will be disappointed. However, if you go into this film knowing exactly what you’re going to get with a Jason Statham movie, then you will be entertained, and that is certainly worth the price of a movie ticket. For me, this movie is better than most of his typical films because, again, it does replicate great action movies, so if you’re looking for a good, fun matinee or a cheap movie that you just want to watch while drinking, then this is your movie. Jason Statham doesn’t disappoint because he’s a good action star, but no, this movie will not win any awards, and we will not be talking about it during this year’s awards season. Jason Statham made this movie especially for his audience that likes a certain kind of action movie and didn’t stray from what makes his movies entertaining, and that I can applaud.
