Review of The Mechanic (2011) by Adam B — 30 Sep 2011

A touch over 10 years ago Jason Statham was finishing a career as a member of the British Diving Team and doing occasional modelling work for French Connection. Now he is such an established star that the words "a Jason Statham film" tell you everything you need to know about a movie. You could put him into any situation and it would mould itself to him a tight fitting pair of speedos. Cast him as a mechanic and can already hear telling customers in his trademark growl "that's going to cost you". He'd strip off his shirt to wrench bolts tight and accidentally get some oil on himself. Throw in a fight with a local gang attempting to trash the joint and you are pretty much there.

However in this film "mechanic needed" actually means "assassination required". Statham plays a cold as ice hitman who starts training up wild young thing Ben Foster. Plots have never been a key part of Statham films, so the cliched and dull narrative is no surprise. What is a surprise is the lack of action sequences. Apart from a few low key hits nothing really happens for the first hour. When things finally do kick in the action is insipid and un-original lacking the creativity and flair of The Transporter films. The one memorable moment is a head on collision between a car and a bus.

Worse even than the lack of action is the lack of narrative thrust. The film meanders along with no real sense of where it is going. Instead of frenetic pacing or a steady build to a huge finale we get poorly ripped training montages that make you long for panache of something like Leon. In place of Leon pot plant, Statham has a classic car he is building and a posh hi-fi to indulge his passion for classical music - though he only ever seems to the same Schubert record. The whole film feels like copying someone else's homework and, in the process of changing bits to make it seem like your own work, removing all the good bits.

It's directed by Simon West who has done Tomb Raider and Con Air in the past. Given it's all star cast Con Air felt like a massive missed opportunity and The Mechanic shares the same dull and sloppy approach. Even the cameo by Donald Sutherland feels like something you've seen a hundred times before. It's a black mark against the Statham brand. Hopefully it isn't a sign of things to come.