The Mechanic (**½)
Directed by: Simon West
Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn, Donald Sutherland,
Mini Anden, Jeff Chase
Seen: April 1st 2011
**½
Out of ****
Jason Statham is action staple, and as far as his movies go, The
Mechanic is one of his better ones. This may be due to director Simon West’s
involvement, who has some previously successful (and dare I say almost
legendary) movies on his resume such as Con Air and The General’s Daughter (but
he did make Tomb Raider too, so not all is peachy). The Mechanic is violent and
unashamed, it even contains an unnecessary scene of gratuitous sex following an
impressive assassination made to look like an accident as part of its
introduction (maybe this is to let us know that protagonist Arthur Bishop
(Statham) literally has it all: the cool house, the smart car and the hot
lover...).
Bishop works for the kind of “company” that employs assassins and desires
protecting its own interests at any cost. When that cost is possible exposure,
Bishop is tasked to eliminate Harry McKenna (Sutherland), his boss, friend and
mentor. Bishop is a consummate professional, and he completes the mission like
the company pawn he is. He receives his pay-check, but goes to the funeral,
where he runs into Harry’s son, Steve (Foster). Events allow Steve to become
Bishop’s student, and the two become a lethal team when Bishop’s boss, Dean
(Goldwyn), sends his best after them as they’re not thrilled about Bishop
training Steve, and to silent Bishop after he uncovers some shady conduct by
his employers (in the context of assassins, that is). Many things go boom and
many thugs are killed in inventive ways as Bishop is continually shown to be a
master planner.
The Mechanic is entertaining enough for a Friday afternoon
introduction to your weekend, but you may not remember much of it come Sunday.
The movie seems cool while you’re watching it, but somehow when it’s done you
realise that it’s a bit “flash-in-the-pan”, things happen rather quickly
without much tension allowed to build. Just as you start thinking the action
set-pieces are impressive and show potential it’s over, and you’re left with a
sense that things tie up too quickly and neatly. Foster is good in just about
anything he does, and Statham is very good (even be it one-dimensional) at
doing what he does in every movie he stars in. The rest of the cast are side
characters, from Sarah (Anden), Bishop’s girlfriend of sorts, to the massive Burke
(Chase), Steve’s first mark, to Harry and Dean, who are simple representations
of the old guy on his way out and the corrupt new guy who doesn’t completely
understand how to truly play things in his favour without going way off-grid.
If you’re in the mood for random action, The Mechanic is far better
than Statham’s previous action outings (Transporter 2 & 3 and the two Crank
movies), even though it seems to be over a little too quickly. I enjoyed The
Mechanic while watching it, but now, three days later, I’m experiencing a vague
feeling of uncertainty as to why, as it oddly still feels like I’ve only seen
the trailer for a very cool looking action movie.
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