A typical recent Jason Statham outing, although there's less action to begin with than you might expect having witnessed the trailer. THE MECHANIC is a remake of an old Charlie Bronson flick about a hit-man who takes on a young apprentice and the escapades that they subsequently undertake. After a lifetime of jokey action stars delivering quip after quip, it's quite pleasing to see a film that takes a more serious tone than most, with Statham gruffer than usual and few opportunities for humour in the script.
The opening of the film works well, introducing the lead character in a way similar to LEON and including a nice-but-brief turn for Donald Sutherland whose presence really starts the ball rolling. Then into the mix we have Ben Foster (3:10 TO YUMA), playing another of his trademark volatile characters, and he brings some much-needed urgency and danger to the production. The story that follows has plenty of inventive moments and certainly keeps you watching throughout, although it's not until late on that the overall structure becomes apparent.
Simon West, who once made CON AIR and who has just finished work on THE EXPENDABLES 2, handles the action sequences well; although there's some use of the dreaded shaky-cam here, it's not over-utilised like in other movies, so at the very least you can still see what's going on. There are some good vehicle stunts, plus the requisite fights and shoot-outs, along with a climax that proves dramatically satisfying. THE MECHANIC certainly isn't anything more than a run-of-the-mill action flick but on the other hand it's a run-of-the-mill action flick that does tick all of the right boxes.
