Mutiny Movie Review

“Mutiny” is a movie that puts one, outmanned guy against a dangerous container ship crew. It becomes a claustrophobic clash of close contact conflict. The ship’s captain and crew are armed and deadly, while engaged in nefarious deeds. But when an overwhelming force is matched up against Jason Statham, the odds just tipped in favor of the ‘Certified Tuff Guy’ (Trademark pending)…

Bodyguard Cole Reed (played by Jason Statham) works for a shipping magnate in Thailand. His boss is named Tibu Campallo (played by Ramon Tikaram), and he enjoys games of chess with his protector Reed. Tibu is selling his shipping empire, for his son (played by Chaneil Kular). He considers Cole Reed as almost a part of his family. But that night, an ambush catches Cole and Tibu off-guard.

Tibu Campallo, the billionaire and father figure to Cole, is killed. The bad guys are taken out by Cole very quickly. He sees that the local police are compromised and corrupt. One of the dead attackers has information about leaving on a cargo ship later that night. As fortune should have it, the dead shooter has all of his paperwork. Also, his passport photo is a close match to Cole Reed.

The cargo container ship Captain is guy named Marko Madsen (played by Roland Møller). This is a standard run for this crew, hand-selected by Marko. All except for a last-minute substitute for Third Mate. The original crew member has been replaced by Angie Ellis (played by Annabelle Wallis). She would rather be back in L.A. to see her daughter. But she was called for emergency duty.

Cole Reed is presumed to be in cahoots with the ambush team that killed Tibu Campallo. The sale of his shipping empire has been called off. That is due to the untimely death of Tibu. But a competitor shipping boss named Taren (played by Jason Wong) is very pleased. He has been working with Captain Marko. The regular cargo being transported is not as lucrative as the special ‘human trafficking cargo’ that they control.

Reed finds no problem using the dead man’s identity to get aboard the massive ship. He knows that there is some connection between the crew members on this boat and the murder of his boss. He intends to hunt everywhere to find out what is going on. Soon Cole finds a shipping container full of people. The crew and the Captain now know that there is stowaway who could ruin the plans.

Angie also finds out, and she is marked for death. Cole Reed is there to handle the bad guys. He does so in a brutal and efficient manner. The two of them need to get these poor souls off the ship into a lifeboat. But before they can do that, more heavily-armed crew members come to try and get them. Captain Marko is very upset that Angie was able to slip into the main bridge and put out a distress call.

There is a US Naval Captain (played by Adrian Lester) on a destroyer that is not that far away. That military ship gets the distress call, and he is curious when Captain Marko calls back to cancel the distress call. The Naval Captain thinks that something is fishy, and he sends over a small fast boat of Special Ops guys to go and check it out.

Cole Reed and Angie are facing a very large crew of well-armed and vicious men. But they are sneaky in ways to elude the people on their trail. Down to the engine room, up to the bridge, into personal quarters — there is no place that Cole and Angie will not go to keep a step ahead. She has been injured, but she gets help from Cole to treat her wounds.

All the while Captain Marko communicates to Taren about the difficulty that Cole and Angie are causing his ‘shipment’. The Captain plans to meet another boat of pirates, ready to take all the human beings used as collateral. Cole winds up locked into a room, and Angie is captured and brought up to the bridge. Even in these difficult positions, they are both smart enough to plan escapes.

Soon, almost all of the nasty pack of sea-going brigands has been eliminated. There will be a face off between Cole Reed and Captain Marko. There will be a man-to-man battle for the soul of this ship. Off in the distance, the US Navy Special Ops team is almost there at the cargo container ship. But what do you think they will find when they get there?

Will the evil Captain get his just deserts? Will the human victims used as cargo be set free? Will Angie to released back to go and see her daughter? And in the end, will Cole Reed get to the top of the food chain, and will he bring justice for Tibu Campallo? Will Cole find and take out Taren, the other side of this human trafficking coin?

Well, hint – hint, this is a Jason Statham movie after all…

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“Mutiny” is a bloody, violent movie, and it is perfect for Jason Statham. It is a type of movie that fits him like a tailored suit. As Shakespeare might say: “A Statham in any other role is still a Statham”.

Well, maybe the Bard would not say it exactly like that. But you get the picture. Statham is a rock-solid, dependable actor with a screen presence that goes a long way. When he gets a movie script that uses all of his gruff, glowering personality, he makes it work.

Statham does his soft-spoken ‘Tuff Guy’ best in this movie. His performance matches up well against Annabelle Wallis (as Angie). She is mild, but not meek – and when pushed to the limit, she will push back with consequences. Both of them are fighting off the evil Captain, played with some style by Roland Møller.

If you are looking for a heavy drama or even a light Dwayne Johnson style ‘action spoof’, then you must keep looking. This is a movie that delivers a gritty (if not grounded in reality) hard-action feature. It has the sea-legs to make it work, along the rough language and the blood splurts.

“Mutiny” may not be a drama on a ship named “The Bounty” or on a boat called “Caine”. But if you can fathom Jason Statham fighting aboard decks, this movie is ‘see-worthy’.