“The Mechanic” is Mindless Action With Cajones

Since his first onscreen appearance in Guy Ritchie’s caper “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels,” Jason Statham has slowly been carving out a niche for himself as a smug criminal we can root for.  The actor gained cred as an action hero through the martial arts skills he displayed in “The Transporter” series, and further cemented his status in the genre by appearing alongside Sylvester Stallone in “The Expendables.”  With Statham’s resume, he was the logical choice to play seasoned hitman Arthur Bishop in Richard Wenk’s “The Mechanic,” a remake of a 1972 Charles Bronson  movie by the same name.

Bishop (Statham) explains to us through narration that he’s a gifted “mechanic,” which is easy to deduce as code for assassin, because he possesses a certain mindset that allows him to fix murders so that they look like accidents.  His skills are easy to identify right from the opening scene, where Wenk establishes Bishop as a man devoted to carrying out plans with precision.  Bishop learned all these tricks from his mentor Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), one of the partners in a company of contract killers.  Since Harry has been like a father figure to Arthur, the two are close.  When the other partner in the firm, Dean (Tony Goldwyn), orders Harry’s death for his supposed betrayal of the business, Arthur is devastated but powerless to stop the organization.

Following Harry’s funeral, Harry’s misguided son Steve (Ben Foster) comes to Arthur in search of help.  Steve pleads with Arthur to teach him the tools of the trade so that he can take his rage about his father’s death and turn it into something useful.  The normally solitary Arthur reluctantly takes Steve under his wing, instructing him in the skills necessary to be a mechanic.  Even though Steve is reckless and he does not like to do things Arthur’s way, a bond develops between the two men.  When Dean catches wind that Arthur is training an apprentice on the job though, he becomes intimidated and decides to take them down.  So the master and student team up to eradicate Dean before they end up dead.

“The Mechanic” does not construct a complex conspiracy surrounding Harry’s death nor does it bore you with unnecessary exposition.  It’s just mindless action with the cajones to indulge viewers in the violence and sex they expect from the genre.  There’s brutal hand to hand fighting sequences  and bloody gunfights to check out while Arthur and Steve are in the line of duty.  Wenk sticks to business with these two characters, focusing on their training, while minimally using female characters in the movie.  Strangely,even the sex scenes only  concentrate on the essentials in this, focusing on the bumping and grinding, with a quick finish before the male character takes off on his next mission.

Wenk’s remake of “The Mechanic” is certainly no thinking man’s movie, but it entertains because it delivers staples for the action genre: a suave leading man, violence, one-liners, and the occasional sex scene.  Its same cookie cutter qualities that make it fun though are what prevent it from being more interesting than standard fare.  If you’re a Statham fan you’ll probably enjoy this film more than most, but the average moviegoers probably will not find it too special.

My Grade: B