Mutiny review – Jason Statham’s fight-by-numbers action thriller just about stays above water

The hard-working action hero gives us exactly what we expect, and often want, in this sturdy cargo ship-set caper The dog days of August have already seen the trotting out of some usual suspects from a junky Eli Roth horror to a belated nostalgia comedy sequel to a Mike Pence-approved Ronald Reagan drama .

This weekend, yet more howls will be heard in cinemas with a lower-tier horror instalment and an even lower-tier girlies on tour comedy being shuffled out.

It’s all amounting to a rather rubbishy end to what’s been a pretty remarkable summer (easily the biggest since the pandemic), allowing for Spider-Man supremacy until September slowly returns the industry from the D-list closer to the A.

There can still be low-level popcorn pleasures to be had in August.

Last weekend’s throwback dino caper The End of Oak Street was a b-movie made with just the right balance of serious to silly while last year Zach Cregger gifted us with Weapons , the rare genre film to end up winning an Oscar.

Trophies are unlikely for this weekend’s other medium-sized release Mutiny (if only the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards hadn’t died off at the turn of the 2000s) but if the words ‘Jason Statham vehicle’ possess a safe, soothing quality then there are far worse ways to spend a Saturday night.

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