All hail the King of mid-budget action thrillers! The Stath is back. The patron saint of the modern equivalent of the 1980s, when video stores ruled the Earth. Shelter was a rare misfire in this space, still entertaining, but felt like it was lacking his usual bite. Will Mutiny be a return to form?
Well, let’s see, as Lionsgate has released a trailer and so it is time to run through our Statham checklist:
A taciturn hero with a mysterious past – check.
A link to London so the lead doesn’t have to attempt an accent – check.
Some kind of one man-mission – check
Crisp, efficient violence – check
They should have left him alone – check
Excellent. All present and correct.
Jean-François Richet directs. He made Plane with Gerard Butler, another heavyweight in this space. That was far better than it had any right to be and fulfilled all necessary criteria to be a modern day VHS rental success, too.
Mutiny follows Cole Reed (because, of course!), who, after seeing his billionaire industrialist boss murdered in front of him, is set up to take the fall for the crime. Reed boards a cargo ship on a one-man crusade to avenge his boss’s death, only to discover an international conspiracy.
Danish actor Roland Møller (Citadel) is the villain, because all villains in these endeavours require European accents as the foreign is automatically untrustworthy, and probably a pervert too. In the old days we would have just colonised them.
Annabelle Wallis, Lee Charles, Jason Wong, Ben Cartwright, Adrian Lester and Arnas Fedaravicius co-star. Mutiny was written by Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis with production taking place in the UK and Malta. Statham and Marc Butan produce the movie via their Punch Palace Productions and MadRiver Pictures houses.
Mutiny opens in cinemas on August 21st.
