Mutiny

“Mutiny,” starring Jason Statham, opens this weekend. Thankfully, I have the Official Handy-Dandy Checklist for any new Jason Statham movie to prove it’s a TRUE Jason Statham movie… so here we go:

A cool, one-syllable name: Cole Reed (“Mutiny”) — Check! This joins previous names like Leone Cade (“A Working Man”), Adam Clay (“The Beekeeper”), and H (“Wrath of Man”).

Deadly previous career: Law enforcement, special ops (“Mutiny”) — Check! This joins previous careers like government assassin (“Shelter”), assassin (“The Mechanic”), and government assassin (“The Beekeeper”).

Scum of the earth enemy: Human traffickers (“Mutiny”) — Check! This joins previous scumbags like phone scammers (“The Beekeeper”), corrupt black-ops operatives (“Shelter”), and, you guessed it, human traffickers (“A Working Man”).

Actually produced by Jason Statham: “Mutiny” — Check! This joins previously produced movies like “Shelter,” “The Beekeeper,” “A Working Man,” “Meg 2: The Trench,” “Expendables,” and “Hobbs & Shaw.”

Okay, well, now that we know “Mutiny” is a bona fide Jason Statham movie according to the Checklist, how does it fare? Does it sail along the high seas of healthy expectations or sink under the weight of storytelling bilge? Does it find the buried treasure or does it walk the plank? Does it… does it… okay, I’ll stop now.

If you are reading about a Jason Statham film on a Christian movie Website, you are either already a fan or you just like to read random movie reviews. As a modest fan of these kinds of films, I can say that “Mutiny” is competent, well-paced, violent, and doesn’t wear out its welcome as it comes in at a brisk 95 minutes. Directed by Jean-François Richet and written by Lindsey Michel and J.P. Davis (Davis and Richet were also behind “Plane” (2023), a Gerard Butler vehicle with a very similar vibe and look), the bones of “Mutiny” will not be unfamiliar to action picture fans. Interestingly, “Mutiny” was actually written by Davis to be a sequel to “Plane” that had the hilarious working title “Ship.” When Gerard Butler refused to be cast in the sequel, they retooled the script to be a Jason Statham flick.

Here’s a quick plot synopsis: Cole Reed (Statham), bodyguard and chauffeur (and seemingly personal friend) to a kind-hearted Bangkok businessman, finds himself pinned for his boss’s murder after trying to fight his way out of an ambush set up by unknown assailants. The mastermind has ties to the authorities and news agencies, so Reed’s picture is plastered all over the media in record time. Aside from the indignity of losing his client, he’s also on the run for a crime he didn’t commit.

Thankfully, Reed steals a passport from one of the dead assailants who just happens to be as bald and white as he is. What luck! He uses it to climb aboard a container boat owned by his boss’s company to escape the cops and to investigate the ties between the shooters and his boss’s company. Of course, this is where he will find out that the corrupt ship captain, Marko Madsen (Roland Møller), has a side hustle of human trafficking. He also employs many crew members who look like they came from ThugsAreUs.com. And because you need a girl boss nowadays, we also meet Third Mate Angie (Annabelle Wallis), who swears like a sailor and works for the company as a last-minute crew replacement.

Reed and Angie find a container of refugees who are about to be trafficked. Finding a common cause to protect these victims, they team up to skulk, survive, kick butt, and radio in a US Navy ship some miles away. The captain of the US Navy craft, played by Adrian Lester, is flummoxed by the situation, thinking it a false alarm, but ends up sending an elite squad to investigate. Can they get there in time to help our extremely capable heroic duo?

The mastermind (Daniel Kluth) behind it all is one of those smug, young villains that you want Statham to punch really hard. It doesn’t happen quite like that, but you will be satisfied when Reed catches up to him, closing the brackets on the movie’s opening sequence.

Much like other seafaring movies from “Under Siege” to “The Hunt for Red October,” Jean-François Richet makes the most of the ship’s secret compartments, cramped spaces, and nooks and crannies. There are a lot of creative hand-held camera movements and close-up hand-to-hand action to savor without it becoming vomit-inducing. Reed mows through the crew floor by floor, every once in a while getting caught in a ventilation pipe or behind a steel grate that he has to finagle a way out of à la MacGyver.

The body count on board is around 20-ish, which makes for a long day even if Reed is ex-police/ex-special ops. Oh, and you have got to see that quick picture of Statham in an English bobby costume as the villains go through his personal history. Priceless!

This is an R-rated Jason Statham movie, so you know what to expect. Language is heavy: more than 30 versions of F**k, 7-ish Sh, 2 B**ch, a**, b*tch, and a few taking the Lord’s name in vain (J*sus Chr*st, G*d, Oh my G*d), plus an assortment of lesser D*** and such.

Violence is heavy: there are all manners of weapons one can use on a ship including chains, broken glass, meat hooks, padlocks, knives of all kinds, iron bars, spearguns, etc., and we see these items used to horrific effect. There is also violence using cars and vehicles. Expect lots of close-ups of impalements, dislocations, gun violence, stabbings, vehicle crashes, fist-fighting, and head wounds. Lots of blood and bleeding abound.

There is no nudity, but there are hints of upcoming rape (nothing is seen, however). There are children in peril, and human trafficking victims are being verbally abused and shoved. Smoking and drinking are present, along with a few scenes of smoking something other than cigarettes. The violence is pernicious but efficient, as scenes tend not to linger on the carnage more than necessary.

When Reed and Angie open that container to see the victims of human trafficking, they immediately bond over their concern for the strangers’ well-being. They jump into action to find a way to save these poor souls from an unknown and terrible fate. They show over and over again what it means to have a self-sacrificial love for these strangers as they charge into harm’s way to protect them from the dangers that swirl around them. Jesus said,

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” —Matthew 7:12 NIV

Treating others as we would like to be treated means we must be willing to set aside our own preferences, rights, and desires in order to serve those in our lives. As a parent loses sleep, sacrifices financially, and cares for the children she/he loves, so we are to give up our own comforts for the good of others.

This sacrificial love is shown most powerfully in God Himself coming to earth as a human, Jesus Christ, and sacrificing His life for us who knew Him not, yet would be counted as children of God if we accept Jesus’ sacrifice and ask Him to enter our hearts and lives (Romans 6:23; 10:9). His sacrifice and resurrection give us all a clear understanding of the extent of what self-sacrificial love is.

If you are a fan of the Statham genre, you will walk away satisfied, as this is one of the better Statham films that has come along in the last few years. But as our guy is nearing 60 years old, how many more films does he have in the tank? Keanu is 61 this year. Tom Cruise is 64. Liam Neeson is 74. Harrison Ford, if he comes back for an Indy sequel, is 84(!). I guess none of us know how long we have on this earth. But it seems the old guard is still fighting the bad guys. And as long as they have an audience that will pay to watch, it looks like they will keep on fighting.

• Violence: Very Heavy
• Vulgar/Crude language: Heavy
• Profane language: Moderate
• Drugs/Alcohol: Moderate
• Nudity: Cleavage
• Sex: Implication of rape
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.