MUTINY (2026) Jean-François Richet / Screenplay: J.P. Davis & Lindsay Michel / Cinematographer: Brendan Galvin (2.00:1) / Design: Russell De Rozario / Editors: David Rosenbloom & Joe Rosenbloom / Composer: Marcus Trumpp / Produced by Jason Statham / Acted by: Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Roland Møller, Ramon Tikaram, Jason Wong, Chaneil Kular, Arnas Fedaravicius, Adrian Lester, Rumi Sutton / Countries of Origin: USA & England / Distributor: Lionsgate / Rated: R / Length: 95 mins.
In the almost three decades since Jason Statham’s debut in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the action star has gone from playing a street-wise con artist to one of cinema’s most durable, and bankable, cult superstars. He's known for his dry wit, but with Mutiny, Statham dropped all signs of humor. He plays it grim and purposeful — much to the betterment of the picture.
Statham stars as Cole Reed, a former undercover cop who misses the action but can never go back after pissing off the wrong people. So for the past five years, he’s played driver/bodyguard for the Campallo Family, headed by Tibu (Ramon Tikaram) and his son Kameron (Chaneil Kular), owners of an international cargo shipping company based out of Bangkok. Given all of Tibu’s talk of retirement and a new beginning, we know it's just a matter of time before he’s the picture's first casualty.
Don’t let the discombobulating now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t car wreck that opens the film throw you as it did me. Rest assured there will be a logical explanation before the final fade. Still, I can’t help but think that Tibu’s assassination is legitimately off-kilter, as evidenced by the "bulletproof" glass in the rear window. The bad guys’ bullets can’t penetrate it, but Cole’s retaliatory gunplay can. Luckily, they got this, the film’s one jarring coincidence, out of the way early.
Cole’s mission is to go undercover on one of the company’s vast floating fortresses stacked to the brim with containers that resemble giant railway cars. (Mutiny on the boxcars?) He can't involve the police, because he's been pegged as a cop-killing fugitive. He's out to find Tibu's killers, but an added topical subplot involves human trafficking. One of the containers conceals a group of immigrants. Before it’s over, the refugees outnumber the crew.
Assisting Cole in his plight is Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), a reluctant third mate who, rather than spending time off with her daughter, is called into action by the ship’s merciless Captain Marco Madsen (Roland Møller). To underscore the depths of Madsen’s rapacity, he smilingly alerts his squad that the more crew-mates who die, the bigger the cut for the rest of them.
Director Jean-François Richet keeps things moving at a brisk pace making boredom out of the question. Given what passes for action in this day and age, that in and of itself is a blessing. And if there was an Oscar for best supporting props, a cheeky, ingeniously deployed padlock and an unforgiving pickaxe would sweep the ceremony.
Rating: ***
MUTINY (2026) Jean-François Richet / Screenplay: J.P. Davis & Lindsay Michel / Cinematographer: Brendan Galvin (2.00:1) / Design: Russell De Rozario / Editors: David Rosenbloom & Joe Rosenbloom / Composer: Marcus Trumpp / Produced by Jason Statham / Acted by: Jason Statham, Annabelle Wallis, Roland Møller, Ramon Tikaram, Jason Wong, Chaneil Kular, Arnas Fedaravicius, Adrian Lester, Rumi Sutton / Countries of Origin: USA & England / Distributor: Lionsgate / Rated: R / Length: 95 mins.
In the almost three decades since Jason Statham’s debut in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, the action star has gone from playing a street-wise con artist to one of cinema’s most durable, and bankable, cult superstars. He's known for his dry wit, but with Mutiny, Statham dropped all signs of humor. He plays it grim and purposeful — much to the betterment of the picture.
Statham stars as Cole Reed, a former undercover cop who misses the action but can never go back after pissing off the wrong people. So for the past five years, he’s played driver/bodyguard for the Campallo Family, headed by Tibu (Ramon Tikaram) and his son Kameron (Chaneil Kular), owners of an international cargo shipping company based out of Bangkok. Given all of Tibu’s talk of retirement and a new beginning, we know it's just a matter of time before he’s the picture's first casualty.
Don’t let the discombobulating now-you-see-it-now-you-don’t car wreck that opens the film throw you as it did me. Rest assured there will be a logical explanation before the final fade. Still, I can’t help but think that Tibu’s assassination is legitimately off-kilter, as evidenced by the "bulletproof" glass in the rear window. The bad guys’ bullets can’t penetrate it, but Cole’s retaliatory gunplay can. Luckily, they got this, the film’s one jarring coincidence, out of the way early.
Cole’s mission is to go undercover on one of the company’s vast floating fortresses stacked to the brim with containers that resemble giant railway cars. (Mutiny on the boxcars?) He can't involve the police, because he's been pegged as a cop-killing fugitive. He's out to find Tibu's killers, but an added topical subplot involves human trafficking. One of the containers conceals a group of immigrants. Before it’s over, the refugees outnumber the crew.
Assisting Cole in his plight is Angie Ellis (Annabelle Wallis), a reluctant third mate who, rather than spending time off with her daughter, is called into action by the ship’s merciless Captain Marco Madsen (Roland Møller). To underscore the depths of Madsen’s rapacity, he smilingly alerts his squad that the more crew-mates who die, the bigger the cut for the rest of them.
Director Jean-François Richet keeps things moving at a brisk pace making boredom out of the question. Given what passes for action in this day and age, that in and of itself is a blessing. And if there was an Oscar for best supporting props, a cheeky, ingeniously deployed padlock and an unforgiving pickaxe would sweep the ceremony.
Rating: ***