Review of Mechanic: Resurrection (2016) by Jacob D — 29 Jan 2017

"The usually gruff and lively Jason Statham makes this unwanted sequel a pleasing good time even though it's swimming on familiar waters".

Movie Review: Mechanic: Resurrection.

Date Viewed: September 1 2016.

Directed By Dennis Gansel.

Screenplay By Philip Shelby and Tony Mosher, Story By Brian Pittman and Philip Shelby, Based on characters created by Lewis John Carlino and Richard Wenk.

Starring: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Rhatha Phongam, Sam Hazeldine and Natalie Burn.

Nobody can do slick action in sloppy action movies better than Jason Statham, he always doesn't suck even in his worst movies like "Parker" and "Homefront", he always manages to come out clean. "Mechanic: Resurrection" is the unneeded sequel to "The Mechanic" which was a remake to the classic 1972 action thriller which starred Charles Bronson. I wasn't a fan of the 2011 remake but surprisingly enough, "Mechanic: Resurrection" is a rare "sequel to a remake" that's more entertaining than the original.

Sure, this is an action movie that would likely head to straight-to-video but the usually gruff and lively Statham makes "Mechanic: Resurrection" a pleasing good time even though it's swimming on familiar waters. After faking his death, Arthur Bishop (Statham) thought he could never go back to his old life but his past comes back to eat his dust. While in Brazil (Oh yes, during - time where Zika struck the country and politcial leaders were forced out of power.), Bishop meets a woman who says that her employer wants Bishop to do three more hit-jobs but he has grown tired of this dangerous business so he fights off the woman's mercenaries, takes a picture of her and he flees the country.

Bishop then goes to Thailand where he meets an old friend of his, Mae (Michelle Yeoh, who unfortunately left her action chops at home) and learns that the woman he encountered in Rio de Janeiro was working for a man named Riah Crain (Sam Hazeldine). Bishop and Crain have a history together, they were sold to a gangster back when they were orphans, they were trained as killing machines until Bishop escaped.

During his time in Thailand, Bishop meets a young woman named Gina Thorne (Jessica Alba), they have comfortable scenes on the beach together and Thorne goes for a swim while sporting a blue bikini (Oh good! This takes me back in the days when Jessica Alba in a blue bikini top actually meant something). After the eventual sex scene between Statham and Alba, Thorne gets kidnapped by Crain and he orders Bishop to take out three targets and make them look like accidents or he will never see Thorne again.

Bishop's missions take him to Malaysia, Australia and Bulgaria as his three targets are a powerful African warlord who is locked up in a Malaysian prison, an Australian billionaire who runs an underage sex trafficking ring and an American arms dealer named Max Adams (Tommy Lee Jones, who doesn't appear until 70 minutes in). Really Movie! How can you have the great Tommy Lee Jones and have him do a limited amount of screen time?

Nevertheless, Jones is the best thing about "Mechanic: Resurrection" even though he probably has about 5 minutes of screen time. There are some amazing stunts and good action scenes but was there any demand for a "Mechanic" sequel? The first movie did okay at the box office but it wasn't that big of a hit and it was certainly no classic so who was the one person who begged Jason Statham to do a "Mechanic" sequel?

The villain isn't really memorable but I actually thought Jessica Alba did just find in this. We learn early that her character worked for a children's shelter in Cambodia but Crain threatened to kill her children if she didn't follow his lead and arrive in Bishop's location.

Was "The Mechanic" really worth resurrecting? Nope, but at least Statham still knows how to kick some serious ass in a C-grade action movie like this. Despite some serious flaws and weak plotting, I still say "Mechanic: Resurrection" is a fun guilty pleasure because I'm one of those die-hard Jason Statham fans.