The Mechanic

A substantial improvement over its impossibly dull predecessor, The Mechanic follows professional assassin Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) as he reluctantly kills his beloved mentor (Donald Sutherland’s Harry) and subsequently, in an effort at atoning for the murder, takes on the man’s adult son (Ben Foster’s Steve) as his apprentice. It’s an admittedly thin premise that’s initially employed to less-than-enthralling effect, as the movie, which kicks off with an exciting assassination, boasts a repetitive and uneventful midsection that ultimately proves a test to the viewer’s patience (ie one can’t help but wish the filmmakers would just get on with it already). The ensuing atmosphere of benign watchability is due almost entirely to the efforts of the film’s two stars, with Statham’s stiff-lipped yet compelling performance matched by Foster’s comparatively over-the-top turn as Arthur’s moody protégé. The Mechanic‘s transformation from passable thriller to exciting actioner, then, is triggered by Steve’s first job, as the sequence effectively paves the way for a violent and propulsive final half hour that boasts one surprisingly gripping set piece after another. (It is, as a result, fairly easy to overlook Simon West’s annoyingly contemporary visual choices, with the director’s use of shaky camerawork and rapid-fire editing as needless as one might’ve expected.) The end result is a better-than-average action flick that fits comfortably within Statham’s impressively mindless filmography, although it’s clear that the movie would’ve benefited from another couple of passes through the editing bay.

*** out of ****