The Mechanic ** (2011, Jason Statham, Tony Goldwyn, Donald Sutherland, Ben Foster) – Classic Movie Review 4607

Jason Statham delivers the action alright but fails to impress in the acting department, stepping into Charles Bronson’s worn-out old shoes in director Simon West’s all-too-moderate 2011 remake of the 1972 Michael Winner thriller The Mechanic.

Statham plays a strong, silent elite hitman called Arthur Bishop, shocked to discover that he has been hired by nasty Dean (Tony Goldwyn) to kill his old pal Harry (Donald Sutherland). Soon Sutherland’s wayward, crazily violent son Steve (Ben Foster) is hitching himself onto Statham as an apprentice and Statham is teaching him the ruthless tricks of his deadly trade.

After a slow, over-talky first half (and Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino’s dialogue is not up to much), it does eventually spark up into a reasonable action thriller, with some good, tense sequences towards the end.

But it never attains its wished-for status as a good movie or a thoughtful, intelligent action film. However, Statham is fine in the action, as always, and Foster makes some kind of mark.

It ends up stale and old-fashioned, but with some strong action, and at any rate it is a tiny bit classier than its sequel, Mechanic: Resurrection (2016).

It won’t surprise you that there is strong brutal violence throughout, strong language, and some sexual content and nudity.

© Derek Winnert 2016 Classic Movie Review 4607

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