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.

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a well prepared elite expert assassin. Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) is his beloved friend and mentor. When leader Dean (Tony Goldwyn) declares that Harry has double crossed the company, Arthur is forced to kill Harry. Harry's estranged son Steve (Ben Foster) wants to avenge the death, and Arthur takes the young man on as his apprentice.

Jason Statham is once again playing the deadly assassin. The kills are violent. It tries to take itself more seriously than his usual fare. It doesn't make a compelling watch. This movie would rise and fall with the duo lead's chemistry. The fatherly feel isn't there in Jason Statham. Ben Foster is basically just a slightly younger version of Statham. It has some good kills but not enough chemistry.

"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.