Jason Statham:  Arthur Bishop
Ben Foster:  Steve McKenna
Donald Sutherland:  Harry McKenna
Tony Goodwin:  Dean
Jeff Chase:  Burke

Release Date: January 28, 2011
Studio: Relativity Media
Genre: Action / Adventure
Rated: R  1 hr 32 mins

CAST:

The Mechanic

January 29, 2011

Reviewer: Rottenbucher

DIRECTOR:

Simon West

*Comments:

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Current bankable action star Jason Statham and Ben Foster (Pandorom) hit a bull’s-eye in the remake of the 1972 existential hitman film originally helmed by Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent.  Original film producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff hired screenwriter Richard Wenk (16 Blocks) to update the original script and Statham even channels Bronson’s cold stare in several parts of the film.  The original The Mechanic was a rather calm, cool and collected film while this update brings about heaps of action, violence and sex, but still has the odd charm of the nearly 40-year old film.

Arthur Bishop (Statham) is a premiere Mechanic, a hitman that does more than just rub someone out.  Mechanics make these deaths look like accidents, illnesses or other misadventures rather than simple executions.  Sometimes he sends a message but most of the time he gets paid a large sum to bump off someone undesirable.  His handler and sole friend Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) brings the money and offers advice after the assignments.  Except Bishop’s next target is McKenna and given the rules of employment, he has no choice but to carry out the hit. This causes Bishop to actually experience remorse and a slight change of heart, going as far as to take McKenna’s troubled son, Steve (Foster), under his wing.  Bishop uses Steve for his next assignments, even training the off-kilter young man to become a Mechanic. But the relationship between Steve and the killer of his father is risky and dangerous as he is unaware Bishop was the triggerman. Steve shows promise and Bishop learns he was double crossed with the McKenna assignment and the two take on the head of the organization.

The update of The Mechanic is definitely aimed at the current action audience.  Bishop and Steve mow down all kind of individuals, including some severely depraved individuals such as gun runners, drug lords and perverted holy men.  And that is what really moves the remake away from the original.  Bronson was inperturbable and Vincent was lethally carefree. Both men wiped out thugs and gangsters. Statham and Foster show signs of remorse and sometimes seemed troubled with what they have to do for the moola.  It’s a nice tweak, but does cause some motivational problems in the film and makes the audience wonder how Statham becomes a hitman with a heart of gold after so easily killing his only friend.

And that is the only negative. The subtle tension between Statham and Foster is excellent and both actors do a grand job conveying the distrust that runs the bulk of the film and is the main hook for the audience. The action aspects are top shelf with even unexpected gore. The fight between Foster and the gigantic Mechanic (Jeff Chase) is the best one-on-one brawls since Frank Castle vs. The Russian from 2004’s The Punisher. The Mechanic has action in oodles and fans of Statham’s Transporter series and The Expendables will dig his more sinister turn here.

The Mechanic isn’t groundbreaking cinema, but it’s a popcorn pleaser that deliver the goods the genre demands but with above average acting.  In terms of hitmen films, this (and the original) is one of the best because there is a lot more character depth and more than just bang-bang gunplay and scoped headshots from men in trecnhcoats. So if you like watching bad guys get bumped off by two badasses set on a collision course, then The Mechanic is a film for you.  Recommended.