Mutiny

I’m no connoisseur of Jason Statham movies, having seen just a handful of the many one-noun-titled action flicks he’s churned out since The Transporter (2002). But among this weekend’s new movie selections of raunchy comedy (Spa Weekend), franchise gore (Insidious: Out of the Further), family fantasy served with CG soup (The Magic Faraway Tree), and deconstructed homage horror (Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma), Statham’s back-to-basics, Die Hard on a container ship called out to me.

And Mutiny serves up exactly what the beekeeper ordered: straight-ahead action unencumbered by romance, caper complications, or political subtext. It’s one tough guy — an ex-cop, ex-military security expert named Cole Reed (Statham) — untangling the plot that led to the assassination of his friend and boss, a super-rich shipping magnate, a murder for which Cole is being blamed by a corrupt Thai police force.

Naturally, all the answers are aboard one of the magnate’s ships, on which Cole stows away. The crew consists of thugs and mercenaries, along with a corrupt, sadistic captain (Danish actor Roland Møller, Skyscraper) — and one last-minute addition: third mate and honest single mom Angie (Annabelle Wallis, Malignant). In narrative terms, Angie provides Cole with a conversation partner and ship intel; for the audience, Wallis provides a much-needed kinder, more-human presence. For the good of everyone, screenwriters Lindsay Michel and J.P. Davis (Plane) don’t try to make Angie a love interest. She’s no damsel in distress, either, and gets to kick some butt on her own, for some of the movie’s most satisfying moments.

Except for necessary exposition, usually handled succinctly, nothing interrupts the action from the initial flash-forward to the final moment. Director Jean-François Richet (who helmed the similar Plane) uses the impenetrable geography of the ship’s layout to his advantage — like Cole, we viewers rarely know where we are or where passages lead, so anyone could be anywhere at any given moment.

Sure, there are unanswered questions, such as which of the gun-wielding mercenaries was the ship’s cook or chief engineer (there appear to be no benign crewmembers), or whether the U.S. Navy ship (helmed by an uber-wise captain winningly played by Adrian Lester, The Sandman) would actually respond in the way it does to the rogue container ship.

But, really, the only plausibility that matters is whether Cole can whip a couple dozen bad guys in about 90 minutes, starting out with no weapons at all. The answer is yes. Yes, he can.

Grade: B. Rated R. Now playing at AMC River Hills 10, Carolina Cinemark, and Regal Biltmore Grande.

(Photo: Lionsgate)