The Mechanic – A Review
Published on: 20th April, 2011
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Starring: Jason Statham & Ben Foster
Directed by: Simon West
By Lloyd Carroll
“The Mechanic,” the latest starring vehicle for balding British tough guy Jason Statham, is a remake of a 1972 Charles Bronson flick. “The Mechanic” does not refer to someone who repairs cars (although Statham’s character, Arthur Bishop, does like to tinker on a sports car as a play-on-words joke) but rather an elite assassin who works for a mysterious organization.
We learn very little about why Bishop is asked to kill his victims, who seem to be villains for whom society is better off without, and the assassin himself likes to know as little as possible about them to avoid letting emotions get in his way.
Things get complicated for Arthur when he is asked to whack his mentor, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), by his current boss, Dean Sanderson (Tony Goldwyn). In a rare break with custom, Arthur demands to know why he is asked to do this dirty job. He is told by Dean that Harry sold out fellow agents and his treasonous actions resulted in their deaths. Convinced that he is telling the truth, Arthur reluctantly agrees.
Arthur meets Harry’s son, Steve (Ben Foster), while visiting his grave. Steve is a troubled guy who was not very close with his dad, even resenting him, but he wants to avenge his death. Not realizing that it was Arthur who pulled the trigger on that fateful night, Steven asks if he could be his partner in the murder-for-hire business. Feeling guilty, and tired of his loner’s lifestyle, he agrees to take in Harry’s kid to be his protegee.
The two have a grand old time knocking off an assortment of creeps but the big question of what will happen when Steve finds out the truth about his father’s final moments hangs over the film from the first minute.
“The Mechanic” is a solid popcorn flick whose violent script doesn’t always make sense but it’s fun to watch because the actors seem to be having a ball. Jason Statham, who does his own stunts here, has become the British Bruce Willis. Ben Foster is fine in a role that probably would have gone to Ryan Gosling if “The Mechanic” had a bigger budget. The movie though is nearly stolen by its supporting cast led by winking veteran Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn who has his best unctuous bad guy role since 1990′s “Ghost.”
Kudos as well to the filmmakers for making good use of New Orleans and its nearby bayous.
