The Mechanic (2011)

Some chose the mechanic based on a list of TOP assassin movies. Well it's safe to say that the British guy from Crank is more or less an 18 year old working at Jiffy lube who has a licence to carry. Now, he is no bigger than Jackie Chan, but we expect this actor to throw down. He doesn't even use a silencer. His gun is a nub gun. Something an elf would use. It looked like a down syndrome weapon. I was hoping for a sniper rifle. Or some swords. In the beginning He meets an old man who seems like a friend. They have breakfast. I think its pierce bronston. It doesn't matter. After about fifteen minutes he finds him at work at shoots him in the heart. Right in the heart. Idiot. Plus they had a really homo staring contest like in twilight saga. I forgot to tell you the guy was handicap in a wheelchair. Off to a good start. That character was POINTLESS. The assassin just shot an old man in a wheelchair. All the sudden we are in a dance bar. Some dank floozie wants action. A classy hoe with status. She looked like an affluent wine drinker. Maybe a grade school teacher. Well, she banged the crap out of him then drank some coffee. Sounds like first period was in session.Then she dissipated from the film completely. But I got to see some boobs and bare naked ass. Not an assassination but ok. Nothing wrong with a little porn. After this, Mr. Crank finds this POS house like from fight club and just decides to sleep there. Like WTF I realized the main character is white trash with no special abilities or plans. I wasn't listening to the audio but I'm certain he hooks up with his brother who is an alcoholic and a liability to everyone. So far there is not much action. No kung fu so far. The rest of the movie these two idiots go back and forth from the abandoned house to a muscle car workshop. You know because he is a "mechanic" OOOOooo scary. The title is so catchy yet the act is so oily. There is a few gun shots with some 1980's executives. Who cares. Nobody important. They barely know how to shoot. This movie is a Complete diarrhea storm.

"The Mechanic" is an American English-language movie from 2011, so this one had its 5th anniversary last year. The director is Simon West who is from England, just like his lead actor Jason Statham in here and these two have collaborated on several occasions. The movie runs for slightly over 90 minutes and this already includes a great deal of closing credits, so it is really not a long movie at all. Last year there was a sequel, but that one got directed by German filmmaker Dennis Gansel actually. But back to this one here. The screenplay is by Richard Wenk and Oscar nominee Lewis John Carlino, who also wrote the original story here. Most known supporting players are Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn. I personally think that Ben Foster is among the most talented actors of his generation and has several really strong films in his body of work. Shame he did not get a major nomination yet as I believe he is severely underrated. Sadly, this movie we have here is not really a strong addition to his career. He has a great deal of screen time, but the script just won't allow him to shine as the longer the film goes the more it is really just about the action and about making Statham look as cool and badass as possible.But they screwed up with the general plot idea already. They certainly tried all they could to justify Statham's contract killer character only being the messenger by telling everybody that Sutherland's character had to die anyway and all, but still it is tough to believe that Foster's character, the son of the victim is really not mad at all when it comes to Statham, has only the intention to kill the ones who ordered the murder. Then again, the ending which is interesting somehow with the major plot twist justifies this a little bit. But the very ending with the final explosion is one that once again completely lacks in substance and really only serves as means to make Statham('s character look good). In terms of the story and the character, there is very little (almost nothing) beyond the surface here and while the film early on had moments that somehow offered the opportunity for at least a decent crime action movie, it all was basically thrown away in the second half. Maybe Carlino, in his mid-80s now, is really way too far past his peak. But maybe also Wenk is the one to blame. Oh yeah, this film here is somewhat of a remake of the then almost 40-year-old film with the same title starring Charles Bronson. haven't seen that one, so I cannot say if it is any better. But this one here also shows that Statham is probably not an actor that can make an action movie work as a lead actor if the material is not really good. He seems to be pretty limited in range. Luckily (I guess), they did not include a weak romance story line here, but focused on all the male characters instead and the outcome was still pretty bad. I guess they did include romance in the sequel I mentioned earlier as that one is co-starring Jessica Alba. But judging from the quality of this first film here, it never should have been made and you can use this reference for the second and first film I guess. Money makes the world go round. Sad state of affairs. It summarizes this movie perfectly that the only awards recognition it received is for its stunts. Enough said. Don't watch.

This film was recommended to me by a friend, and I had nothing else to do at the moment, so I watched it till the end. It was intriguing with first action, but already after 10 minutes I've realized, that this is going to be a total waste of time. Actually the film could just end there! Well shot with some magnificent special FX and action, this is all that it is. All the rest is based on ridiculously bad, shallow-minded and over-abused clichés - the acting, the plot, the direction, lack of story whatsoever, cliché motives, insights and dialogues, etc. And total lack of humor kills it completely. So my recommendation - if you can abstract from all this and just want to watch some killing action, then go ahead. But if you expect something beyond - don't waste your time...

While no one would ever mistake THE MECHANIC for a great movie, for the most part it's a competently done hit-man/mentor film that makes good use of Jason Statham and never overstays its welcome. The scenario is something that's been done many times before: an experienced (sometimes aging, but not in this case) hit-man takes a younger person under their wing as a protégé, and eventually they have to confront each other in some way. Not only has this been done before, but this film is a remake of a 1970's one starring Charles Bronson. Not having seen that one, I can't compare the two, but I also won't debate the merits of this new version existing in the first place. It is what it is, and for what it's worth I thought it was enjoyable, if slightly mundane, way to pass 90 minutes.The character development is kept to a minimum, as is common for films of this type. Jason Statham's character is (obviously) the most fleshed-out person, but Ben Foster gets enough to do and plays off of Statham's character quite nicely. The one person I thought was underused was Donald Sutherland, as Statham's mentor and Ben Foster's father. He only got two scenes, but he still made the most of his limited screen time. Generally speaking, the acting was decent across the board. Even the main villain, despite being underwritten and a bit generic, was well-played.However, the area where this film possibly dips into some murky territory is the ridiculous levels of violence it chooses to show. With the exception of when Statham's character is introduced, there is no subtlety to his process, nor does it go about things in a methodical way to show the intricacies of his profession. Instead, the young upstart basically drags him down and the audience gets treated to explosions of blood and gore that would feel more at home in a "torture porn" movie. I suppose that it's another genre trope that the more experienced professional starts to lose his touch a little bit once he takes on a student, but there are some truly ridiculous scenes between the two as they mow their way through all of the bad guys that are coming their way.Still, this was enjoyable enough due to Jason Statham's charisma and the levity which Ben Foster brought to the proceedings. I wouldn't hate it if they teamed up again for another movie. And barring the, at times, excessive violence, this timeworn story was told with some efficiency, if a little light on originality. Recommended mostly if you're a Jason Statham fan.