A remake of a highly enjoyable 1972 Michael Winner movie, that starred Charles Bronson and a young Jan-Michael Vincent, The Mechanic is everything you’d expect from an action thriller that centres around Jason Statham’s onscreen hard man persona.
Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a “mechanic” who fixes things that need fixed and is the best in the business. Oh, and mechanic in this instance means assassin. It’s a world of precision, mistrust, danger and big rewards and Statham can play the role in his sleep – let’s face it, a few more car sequences and this could easily have been Transporter 4. It’s not long before things get a little more hectic than usual in Statham’s world as he takes on an apprentice (Ben Foster), a lad who is out to avenge the death of his father. The big problem? Statham was the one who killed his father. Uh oh. But while the pieces are being fitted together by Foster the two men, one an amateur with latent talent for the job and the other a seasoned pro, have to stay together to stay alive as the big boss man (Tony Goldwyn) decides that they have outlived their usefulness.
Simon West is in the director’s chair and movie audiences will be pleased to know that this is more Con Air funride than Tomb Raider fluff (though I have never been one to refuse watching Angelina Jolie dressed up as Lara Croft . . . . even in the sequel). The action beats are paced nicely throughout the movie, leading to an enjoyable and completely over the top last half hour, and the violence is a mix of effortless cool and crunchingly painful. The screenplay, by Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino (the latter being the creator of the original story that the 1972 film was based on) has absolutely no surprises in it but does well enough with it’s quick character sketches and feeding of basic information.
As for the acting, it’s all pretty good for a movie of this type. I like Jason Statham a lot. He does what he does well and he brings a physicality and believability to every one of his action roles. Hell, even as an animated gnome in Gnomeo & Juliet he was playing the hard man. But he’s also got some decent acting chops. He’s never going to be adored by the Academy in the near future (unless something stupendously unexpected happens) but he’s certainly far above many other action movie stars who have come and gone over the years. Ben Foster is a great young actor but slightly less believable in the action hijinks department, which is okay because he’s supposed to be a novice getting by more on luck than honed skill anyway. Tony Goldwyn is suitably unflappable until the guys make their move to suitably flap him around and we get Donald Sutherland in a small but vital role. Feminists will not be pleased with the female characters, and I use the plural loosely (as the amount of femininity onscreen amounts to barely more than a few minutes at most), being either potential victims or, in the case of Mini Anden’s character, someone who has sex with Statham’s character for cold, hard cash.
From the very beginning through the fights and gunfire to the very end, The Mechanic sets itself squarely as an alpha male movie through and through and it certainly delivers in that respect. Jason Statham’s leading man status in this kind of fare remains a plus for those who like to see him kicking ass and taking no prisoners. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
DIRECTOR: SIMON WEST
STARS: JASON STATHAM, BEN FOSTER, TONY GOLDWYN, DONALD SUTHERLAND
RUNTIME: 93 MINS APPROX
COUNTRY: USA
Film Rating: 
