Certain expectations come with watching a Jason Statham movie. The first and most important: it will be an action-packed B-movie. Punches will be thrown, and buckets of blood spilled. There will be little to no character development. No important, juicy subtext. But it will be about an hour and a half of fun. Mutiny is no different.

”‹The set-up is simple: after being framed for the murder of his boss (Ramon Tikaram), the former owner of KMG, Cole Reed (Jason Statham) becomes a stowaway on the company’s cargo ship and discovers the vessel is being used for international smuggling.

Statham – who started his career as a serious character actor in Guy Ritchie films like Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels – has made a name for himself in these genre flicks, and it’s not hard to see why. His background in Chinese martial arts, kickboxing, and karate gives him the confidence that makes for a good fight scene, and Statham’s rugged looks suit the pistols-and-machine-guns aesthetic.

Director Jean-François Richet’s action expertise complements him nicely, and results in a near-perfect, trope-filled ride – including some suitably expected cinematography. Right before ‘the big reveal’ that launches the film into Act Two, Richet incorporates some anxiety-inducing Dutch angles as Statham walks through rows and rows of cargo containers. In moments of intensity, the camera shakily zooms in on Statham’s or co-star Annabelle Wallis’s faces and rigid bodies to capture the increasing pressure. At one point, there’s a nice zoom shot as Statham scurries through cold, grey, metal steam vents to escape the villainous henchmen.

Of course, the tropes exist beyond the camera work and characterize much of the plot and dialogue. After killing one of the antagonists, Reed looks up at a hawk gliding through the crisp blue ocean sky. In the aftermath of the cargo ship chaos, the leading lady walks away only to glance back at Reed with a knowing grin. And when the crime boss is caught with no way of escape, he coughs out that he can get Statham anything he wants because, ‘everyone wants something’.

But the cliches are part of what makes Mutiny a riot. Although there’s a balance between Plot A and Plot B (with the latter being surprisingly clever and inventive), the point of pride here is the fact that it’s an easy movie to follow. It’s the type of experience where viewers can turn their brains off, melt into their seats, and coast through from opening to closing credits. That’s because the real bread and butter of the film is the SFX and VFX.

Fight scenes are filmed in close-knit corridors on a real cargo ship. The choreography is spectacular, and it’s clear Richet was aiming for as much realism as possible here. A myriad of weapons are hurled, swung, and wielded throughout, which add spice to the many high-octane sequences. Blood and wounds look so real it’s nearly impossible to tell whether they’re done with practical effects or CGI. And every once in a while, some blood flings onto the camera lens – a nice, gruesome touch.

Maybe it’s because the action is wicked fast, but Mutiny feels like it flies by. The first act is as short as it can be; the second is enjoyably long, and the final gives Plot B a proper, satisfying wrap-up. The credits start, and despite having an appropriate runtime, the film feels too short. The average viewer will likely feel a greedy desire for more. It’s really nice watching a schlocky B-movie that’s been storyboarded front-to-back, too.

A sturdy, moving plot, to-the-point dialogue with just a dash of goofiness, and great action is all one can hope for in a movie like this – and Mutiny delivers just that.

Mutiny opens in theatres nationwide on August 21.