Movie Review Rewind: The Mechanic (2011)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2011 for a look at Jason Statham in The Mechanic on this edition of Movie Review Rewind.

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Jason Statham has become the action hero of today. For the most part, his movies consist of high-energy testosterone, things blowing up, and people being killed. There are these rare moments like The Bank Job and any Guy Ritchie film where Statham plays interesting characters with depth. So if you like the Statham of Crank and The Transporter movies, then you will enjoy The Mechanic, a remake from the 1970s. If you are hoping that this movie has a great story and characters you care about, then don’t waste your time.

Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a hitman who can kill and leave without you ever knowing he was there. He is an elite assassin who makes murder always look like an accident. But he is tricked into killing his longtime associate Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) when he is told false information. Bishop is a loner but decides to take in Harry’s son, Steve (Ben Foster), and teach him everything he knows. As if that will make up for him killing his father. Once the team of Arthur and Steve is created, they go looking for the people who set them up, but Steve does not know it was Arthur who pulled the trigger and murdered his father.

The general audience knows what they are going to get when they see a movie like The Mechanic, especially with Statham in it. But Foster takes on so many crazy roles, you never know what kind of performance he will show you. However, his performance in this is nothing short of unexciting and basic. And Statham is the same guy who was in The Transporter movies. He knows how to kick ass and kill, and he seems to always escape and can always outsmart anyone. Well except when his character was told that his longtime friend needed to be killed. He had one meeting and never questioned it again. I just don’t get it.

As far as the movie itself goes, it is like every action movie that has been made since the original in the 70s. There is no point or direction to the story. Thrills and suspense do not belong in a movie that is so careless and lazy when it comes to doing something new and fresh. Why the original needed a remake is beyond me. Even when director Simon West wants to, he turns in to a ludicrous, played out action movie with no grip on what is going on.

This movie lacks direction and emotion. I found myself not caring who killed who and why because it is not worth it. It just wants to try and be fast-paced and violent in the hopes that maybe you won’t notice that all the chaos that is occurring is pointless. The opening scene is an assassination that happens in a pool. This scene makes you believe The Mechanic will be a cool, stirring thriller that could have a lot to offer. Well the joke is on us.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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