Part of the appeal of acting for most actors is the ability to take on a myriad of characters, to inhabit their skin and their lives, through time and space. And then there’s Jason Statham.

The 59-year-old British actor has only two interests when it comes to acting: shooting stuff and hitting stuff. Despite his limited interests he’s made a pretty lucrative career from doing just that, and continues to do so here, as he plays a bodyguard for a wealthy family.

Looking after businessman Tibu (Ramon Tikaram) and his son, is Cole Reed (Statham). They’re about to celebrate the selling of their shipping company, but they’re then caught unawares by a threat that puts the ‘hostile’ into a hostile takeover, that sees the death of Tibu.

This angers Reed, and soon finds himself aboard a ship - where one of the people he killed was going to - in a hope of getting to the bottom of this skulduggery.

He finds more than he bargains for however, and is soon hunted on the Artemis in the middle of the ocean, as he does all he can to stay alive.

No doubt Statham was happy with the result of this feature, with both his requirements met, with plenty of hitting and shooting stuff, but sadly he may be the only person that is.

To say that it’s generic is an understatement. It’s Die Hard on a Boat, with him scurrying around to prevent being killed, but much like himself, the film has little personality.

That’s not to say Statham lets his fans down, as he does indeed shoot and hit stuff, but French director Jean-François Richet lets himself and Statham down with truly tepid direction. And considering he directed the excellent 2008 Mesrine (parts 1&2), this dud Die Hard clone is a poor show. It’s even more surprising considering his last flick had him piloting 2023’s enjoyable Plane with fellow hard man Gerard Butler.

To its credit, when it’s brutal it’s deliciously so, but it’s too infrequent, with far too much bland storytelling padding to endure to get to it.

Perhaps Statham himself was displeased, as a forthcoming title of his is an action comedy with the promising title Jason Statham Stole My Bike, playing a fictionalised version of himself, which may well give him the opportunity to poke fun at his rigid on-screen persona. As well as hit stuff and shoot stuff, natch.

We have proudly stated in the past that Statham is a guilty pleasure, but this dire effort just proves that there needs to be more to just the shooting and hitting to make an enjoyable Statham film.

This then is no Statham classic and is likely to sink without a trace.