For a while now, I have craved an all-out action movie that delivers the satisfying crunch, crash, boom and pow of mindless cinematic violence. The trailers for The Mechanic seemed to suggest that it was exactly that kind of film. And I was not disappointed.
Jason Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a skilled and meticulous hitman whose jobs sometimes require him to make a death look like an accident (as evidenced in the opening sequence) and sometimes he is meant to send a message.
He lives a spartan life in a home far enough away that civilization cannot invade upon his personal space, but close enough that he is connected to the Internet over which he accesses his assignments and news about the world at large.
There is a mentor named Harry McKenna (played with snowy-haired ease by Donald Sutherland), a girl (Mini Anden) and clearly the money is pretty good.
Everything is going fine until the day he is tapped to kill his mentor by Dean (Tony Goldwyn), a man who works with Harry and claims to have proof that Harry was involved in unsanctioned bad deeds. Harry's death brings forth an unforeseen complication -- his estranged son Steve (Ben Foster). Before long Arthur has taken Steve under his wing and is teaching him the ropes on how to be a 'mechanic'.
The Mechanic is enjoyable to watch because the director Simon West (Con Air) and his leading man always seem to be operating with extreme efficiency. Decisions are made quickly, developments are conveyed economically and there are enough adrenalized action set pieces to keep the genre fans satisfied.
Are there plot holes? Yes. Big ones if you spend a few minutes thinking about them.
But this is not a movie to be watched for narrative structure or character development. This is a movie where things go boom, guns go bang and words are spoken with an economy that allows us to appreciate the explosions and the breaking glass without too much distraction.
Jason Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a skilled and meticulous hitman whose jobs sometimes require him to make a death look like an accident (as evidenced in the opening sequence) and sometimes he is meant to send a message.
He lives a spartan life in a home far enough away that civilization cannot invade upon his personal space, but close enough that he is connected to the Internet over which he accesses his assignments and news about the world at large.
There is a mentor named Harry McKenna (played with snowy-haired ease by Donald Sutherland), a girl (Mini Anden) and clearly the money is pretty good.
Everything is going fine until the day he is tapped to kill his mentor by Dean (Tony Goldwyn), a man who works with Harry and claims to have proof that Harry was involved in unsanctioned bad deeds. Harry's death brings forth an unforeseen complication -- his estranged son Steve (Ben Foster). Before long Arthur has taken Steve under his wing and is teaching him the ropes on how to be a 'mechanic'.
The Mechanic is enjoyable to watch because the director Simon West (Con Air) and his leading man always seem to be operating with extreme efficiency. Decisions are made quickly, developments are conveyed economically and there are enough adrenalized action set pieces to keep the genre fans satisfied.
Are there plot holes? Yes. Big ones if you spend a few minutes thinking about them.
But this is not a movie to be watched for narrative structure or character development. This is a movie where things go boom, guns go bang and words are spoken with an economy that allows us to appreciate the explosions and the breaking glass without too much distraction.
If you are looking for a fun time at the movies this weekend, The Mechanic has the means to satisfy.
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