The Mechanic
One of the benefits of being an amateur movie reviewer is that I don't have to see any movie that I don't want to. If it looks like the kind of movie I won't enjoy, I simply won't see it, plain and simple. Unlike most professional reviewers, I rate the films I see based on how much I enjoyed it (in comparison with how much I expected to enjoy it) and to what lengths I would go to see it again. On a scale of one to ten (or one-half star to five stars), I tend to give a movie that I am about to see a rating somewhere between 6 and 7 out of ten before the movie even starts. For a film to fall all the way to a rating of 1-3 out of ten takes some doing, as it would have to be monumentally crappy for it to fall that far. As a result, nearly 75-80% of the movies that I see usually end up with at least a passing grade (5/10).
Most professional reviewers, when stacking up a film like The Mechanic against, say, the films that were just nominated for Academy Awards, would probably give it a lesser grade just on principle. However, another benefit of not getting paid to review movies is that I have no reputation to uphold. Were both The King's Speech and The Mechanic good films? To me, definitely. Is The King's Speech a BETTER movie than The Mechanic? Absolutely. Which one did I ENJOY more? Well, I have to go with The Mechanic on that one. That's just how I roll.
One has certain expectations when going in to see an action movie starring Jason Statham - namely, lots of action and not much else. And in that respect, The Mechanic succeeds admirably. Statham is a guy with a lot of screen presence and charisma, which is pretty cool when you compare him with action stars of the past like Schwarzenegger and Willis. Those guys would often intersperse their violence and action with humorous quips, one-liners and catch-phrases. That was part of their charm, their personality. Such a persona simply wouldn't work with Statham, who has made his bones playing laconic characters, men of few words and fewer facial expressions. Characters who are professionals in their field, and who are all business. And that works for Statham. For him to inject inappropriate levity into a tense situation like Arnold or Bruce used to do would come off as forced and fake, and I'm glad that neither he nor the directors he's worked for have tried to turn him into a high-kicking jokester.
In The Mechanic, which is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name starring Charles Bronson, Statham plays Arthur Bishop, a paid assassin who specializes in contract killings that involve taking a target out "without anyone knowing he was even there". After a particularly effective mission, he is told by his boss, Dean, (Tony Goldwyn) that his friend and mentor Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) has undertaken actions that cost several men their lives and put their company's future at risk, and must be "removed". At first reluctant, Arthur decides to put professional responsibility ahead of friendship and facilitates Harry's "removal", make the killing look like a failed carjacking attempt.
Of course, that's when things get complicated... Arthur makes the acquaintance of Harry's estranged son Steve (Ben Foster), who wants Arthur to tech him the art of being a "mechanic" so that he can find an outlet for his anger over his father's death. Out of guilt, Arthur agrees, and the two embark on a precarious friendship that results in some tense moments, not the least of which comes of Steve's lack of experience shining through at the most inopportune times when Arthur is doing his "jobs". And it all leads, of course, to the inevitable conclusion of what happens when Steve learns how his father really met his end.
I really liked this movie. There was a lot of violence, profanity and some nudity, well worthy of its R rating, but it was also very cool, very slick and very entertaining. Its relatively straightforward plot never tried to be overly clever by throwing unnecessary twists or subplots at us, which was nice to see. Statham was his usual reliable self, playing Arthur as the hard-bitten detached loner that he usually plays, and Foster is an actor I'd like to see more of. Though small of stature, his body language and demeanor are very expressive (particularly his eyes), and he tends to take roles that allow him to showcase his intensity. True to form, Foster plays Steve less of a no-account rich man's son than a screw-up trying in vain to live up to his father's expectations knowing full well that he'll fail, and violence is the best outlet to release his frustrations.
The Mechanic will probably not win any awards in this year or any other. It probably won't be a big hit at the box office (hell, no movie with Statham in the leading role has made over $50 million). But all that aside, it delivers everything you could possibly expect of it: kick-ass entertainment.
4 / 5 stars
