A review of 'The Mutiny', an action film starring Jason Statham

This week a new action film, "Mutiny," arrived in theaters. Much of its action takes place on a ship.

A review of 'The End of Oak Street', a science fiction film set in 1982
'Deep Water', a review of this plane crash and shark movie

This new action film was directed by French filmmaker Jean-François Richet and stars British actor Jason Statham, who at 59 still embodies the image of a British version of Bruce Willis, albeit with some differences. The film is set in Thailand, where Statham's character, Cole Reed, works as a bodyguard for a billionaire shipping magnate. British actress Annabelle Wallis co-stars.

I recently mentioned that summer is a time of year when films of purely entertainment value and not much quality abound. "Mutiny" is an example of this. It's an action film with some practically gory scenes and an underlying conspiracy. The scenes on the ship (a cargo ship) make it somewhat interesting, although there are some curious inconsistencies in the dialogue. For example, it's mentioned that there are veterans from different military units on board, including "a Spaniard from the M.E.O." (they spell it that way because reading the acronym would obviously look bad: "meo" in Spanish means pee). In reality, the elite group of the Spanish Army is the M.O.E. (Special Operations Command).

Another naval curiosity: an American Arleigh Burke-class destroyer appears in the film (specifically one of the Flight I or II variants, as it lacks helicopter hangars). In the film, they decide to name it Oliver Hazard. There is currently no US Navy warship with that name. Until 1997, there was a frigate, the USS Oliver Hazard Perry, which was the first and gave its name to a class of 51 ships. It is the class from which the Spanish Navy's Santa María-class frigates are derived.

Getting back to the film, "Mutiny" is exactly what it seems: an entertaining and passable film, with some good action scenes and little else. It works as a typical summer blockbuster, only failing if you expect more from it. If you plan to see it and have young children, I recommend you don't take them, as it contains some quite intense scenes that are not suitable for them. Here's the trailer: