At this point, your average action movie fan could direct a Jason Statham film.
OK, Mr. Statham, smash that fellow’s head in, then jump off the building and, oh yeah, could you take off your shirt?
“The Mechanic” dares to challenge the State of Statham, delaying the inevitable mayhem as long as possible. But the Statham template won’t stay buried for long. And by the final reel, we’ve seen enough head shots, twisted limbs and Statham stares to maintain the actor’s clip reel.
None of that would matter if “The Mechanic’s” plot wasn’t so hollow, its characters as thin as a screwdriver head.
Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a hit man whose work is so precise he’s like a mechanic – get it? The opening sequence confirm Arthur’s talents. He takes out a Colombian drug lord while the man swims laps in his luxurious – and heavily guarded – indoor pool.
Arthur’s next assignment could cause him problems. His boss (Tony Goldwyn) tells him to kill Harry (Donald Sutherland), one of the few people Arthur could reasonably call a friend. Seems Harry has been double crossing Arthur’s boss, leaving the hit man with no choice but to take him out.
If Arthur won’t, someone else will.
Harry’s estranged son Steve (Ben Foster) doesn’t know who killed his daddy, but he wouldn’t mind learning what it takes to be a hit man. So Arthur takes Steve under his wing out of both guilt and curiosity. But will Steve figure out how his father died, and was Arthur’s boss telling him the full story about Harry’s treachery?
“The Mechanic,” a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson feature, actually has a whiff of that era’s movie-making style - for a good 40 minutes. We’re not bludgeoned by flashy camera work or aggravated action set pieces. Instead, it’s mostly pensive like its antihero.
This attempt at atmosphere, last seen deployed in the fellow hit man feature “The American,” can’t last forever. And soon Statham is knee deep in action, some of it vicious even by modern movie standards. Any hope that “The Mechanic” would deliver something fresh fades every time the body count rises. Not that there’s anything wrong with your standard Statham feature. But “The Mechanic” doesn’t give us anything more than the actor’s signature kills. Foster remains a cinematic live wire, and he deserves better than the poorly realized character presented to him here.
A few set pieces throb with adventure, and director Simon West (“Con Air”) shoots them in a clear, no-nonsense fashion. Steve’s battle royale with a gay thug will certainly leave a mark.
Goldwyn’s first on-screen meeting with Arthur offers up a humanistic moment. We see him on the phone negotiating with his teen – and clearly losing the debate. If only the rest of the film allowed for such flesh and blood moments.
Other elements in the film feel like storyboard sketches, loosely arranged but lacking depth and purpose. One of Arthur’s targets, a seedy televangelist, is so hokey he’d have to be completely rewritten to rise to the level of a stereotype. And why is a mechanic like Arthur so darn sloppy in 90 percent of his kills?
The film’s ending is flat-out awful, a nonsensical coda which drowns the film in layers of phony logic.
Statham may please fans by making more sequels to either “Crank” or “The Transporter,” but “The Mechanic” hardly qualifies as a franchise in waiting
(Photo: Jason Statham (as ‘Arthur Bishop’) stars in CBS Films’ “The Mechanic.” Photo credit: © 2011 CBS FILMS)
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I was very disappointed with this film, though the trailers looked fun. I started to get nervous when I saw some critics actually enjoyed this film. It’s unimpressive Statham boilerplate. And yes, the ending was laughably bad and predictable.
Yes, exactly what I needed to read. Thank you Christian! I want to love a Statham movie, again, but sadly, this was not it.