Jason Statham is without a doubt the most effective butt-kicking action hero in Hollywood. Even amongst the star-laden group of action icons in The Expendables, Statham was the only one putting in any real work. That could be because he was 20 years younger than everybody else, but it's also because he's rugged cool and he looks like he could actually beat somebody to a bloody pulp if he wanted to. That goes a long way, believe it or not, and in The Mechanic he gets plenty of opportunities to do just that.
We've seen this idea a dozen times before, but rarely is it done so well. Statham is Arthur Bishop, essentially the same character he's been for the past decade. Arthur's a mechanic a grim-faced, butt kicking hitman, a perfectionist in the art of violence. He does dirty jobs, most involve assassination, but he's got his own honor code he lives by when deciding which jobs to take. The only difference between this and The Transporter is a lack of hot cars and hotter chicks. Arthur's mentor and only friend(Donald Sutherland) has been murdered, and Arthur's out for payback. Feeling guilt over his death, Arthur takes in his friend's troubled son, Steve(Ben Foster), and begins teaching him the family trade.
There's just one problem. Steve's a hothead, a pent up ball of destructiveness. He doesn't exactly take all of Arthur's lessons to heart. When tasked with making his first kill simple and quiet with a dose of poison, Steve chooses to do things his own way, leading to a brutal ten minute brawl with a 300lb muscle head. There's a lingering tension between Steve and Arthur, a powder keg that's just waiting to explode, and if you know the past work of director Simon West(Con Air, Tomb Raider) you know he's not the type to leave anything undetonated.
A remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson film, West strips free most of that film's more reflective elements in favor of a straight ahead, no nonsense symphony of violence. Statham's not the type to internalize his rage the way Bronson's character did, he's much better at expressing it through egregious acts of wanton destruction via huge action set pieces. In that he and West make a perfect actor/director combo, and adding the pinpoint acting talents of Ben Foster to the mix only kick this flick up another notch. Quickly gaining a reputation as a chameleon(just look at him in The Messenger and compare), Foster brings much of the same wild, spring loaded energy he had in Alpha Dog. He always appears to be on the verge of doing something really terrible.
Some would complain that we've seen this type of movie one time too many. Those folks couldn't be more wrong. The Mechanic is a lethal injection of adrenaline and testosterone, a near perfect action flick in the image of some of Luc Besson's(La Femme Nikita, The Professional) finest. Get off your butt and see it now!
For more on The Mechanic, check out our interview with director Simon West!
