davidx2718 Review of The Mechanic

The Mechanic (2011)

A spectacular, hardboiled, and sometimes vicious action movie

[20 January 2011]

A typical Statham movie, like the Transporter but with a higher dose of brutality and nastiness. Statham's character Arthur Bishop, a.k.a the Mechanic, is awesomely tough and cold-blooded, and the assassination plans and escapes are brilliant. But images like that of an old man getting shot in the chest (near the beginning) are hard to shake. Ben Foster is great as the jaded alcoholic who becomes the apprentice assassin. It's not clear where he learnt to take on a 350 pound killer with his bare hands, but like he says, "I've seen some s***." All the men in black suits and SUVs who try to protect their clients are equally impressive, and ineffectual. What use are dark glasses and handguns against killers who can climb buildings? Bishop has his hideaway out on the Bayou where he enjoys the finer things in life, like playing the soft classical music that soothes him after a killing, and rebuilding his Jaguar. (And his idea of rebuilding involves micrometres as much as wrenches.) He's got an arrangement with a woman that involves quick visits and wads of cash left on the table. His friend Harry tells him that he (Bishop) needs companionship, but the movie makes it pretty plain why his friendships don't last long. After the intense action sequences you may be saying cool, but does this guy have a soul? If so, it's well hidden under Statham's half-shaved, snarled-lip mug.