Movies Reviews

The Mechanic – Movie Review

By Anne Brodie Jan 26, 2011, 15:30 GMT

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a \'mechanic\' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It\'s a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows ...more

Jason Statham plays what is by now his signature role – a rogue assassin with a heart of gold.  But what makes this something of a departure is that his character, Arthur, an elite assassin, commits a crime that doesn’t square with his own distinct hit man “moral” code. 

He accepts an assignment to kill his friend and mentor, played by Donald Sutherland, reasoning that its better he does it than some stranger.

Arthur alerts him to the oncoming danger, giving him a chance to get away but to add insult to injury, Sutherland’s character is confined to a wheelchair and escape is impossible.  So rather than allow him to face the coming hail of enemy bullets, Arthur does the deed. 

Ben Foster plays Sutherland’s prodigal son Steve, who comes home to mourn his father.  While he seems to be of two minds about his devotion to him, it’s soon clear that he is deeply disturbed by his father’s passing, especially in such a brutal manner – allegedly by carjackers. 

So he heads to the streets to unleash deadly vengeance on any carjacker he can find.  Arthur steps in to stop him.

The two of them form a kind of mentoring partnership, carrying on the tradition of Arthur and Steve’s father. But Arthur conceals his role in the murder so there is always an element of deception, wariness and mistrust between them.

Foster is a sensitive and effective actor and did great work in The Messenger.  He is subtle and powerful here, able to hold onto explosive information and hold his response for later.  Foster is mesmerizing truth be told, and stands up to Statham’s fearsome persona. It’s a nice balance – external force versus interior force.

Based on the 1972 film starring Charles Bronson and Jan Michael Vincent as the protégée, Statham’s version is lean and mean, but he is a younger man so Statham’s character isn’t on the verge of retirement, as is Bronson’s Arthur. However he may be on the verge of a moral watershed which is more interesting.

While it fits within the realm of a specific genre of film, the splattering of blood seems to be a tad fetishistic here, and veers into camp, which is not intended. There’s a particularly ugly and violent scene in which Steve is being seduced by a rival assassin. Turn away time!

It is good to see that much of the film is shot in New Orleans, which boosts the local economy and offers unique settings and proximity to the water.  And Arthur’s home is amazing - it’s an ultra-modern wooden and glass tree house perched above a bayou, giving him privacy and easy access to transportation.

An element of Statham’s action films absent here is the wicked wit and banter.  Crank and Transporter are just more fun to watch than this film.  The tone here is definitely drier and in need of comic relief.

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35mm action adventure
Written by Richard Wenk, Lewis John Carlino based on his story
Directed by Simon West
Opens: Jan 28th
Runtime: 92 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.
Country: US
Language: English