Review of The Mechanic (2011) by Kris L — 26 Aug 2011

I honestly had no idea what this movie was really about other than since it had Statham there is a guarantee of three things: Guns, big explosions and sex. So when I saw a family bring in a kid that looked between 5 or 6 I cringed a little. Honestly, who brings a little kid to an R rated film? Within the first 15 mins or so there was already a sex scene, can just see the kid later going "mommy, what were they doing?" "Uh... they were... playing... wrestling! Yes... wrestling.. in the nude..." No wonder our elementary kids are having sex already.

Anyways, back to the point of my post, the movie! So aside from two very pointless bedroom scenes, the movie was alright. It's nothing I haven't really seen before. Statham is of course typecast, and if you take him out of that zone it just doesn't work very well. Good example "In the Name of the King". That movie was horrible to begin with, but he was so out of his element, it's like he so wanted to grab a fast car and a gun but just couldn't. So anyways, Statham's a gun for hire basically, he's tricked into shooting his only friend, he then allows his friend's son, after much pestering, to become his apprentice. They pull of jobs, some a bit sloppily since the kid is stubborn and wants to do it his way. Statham realizes he's been duped by his superiors and he goes after the ones that played a role in his friend's demise etc etc. It's a typical Statham film, not that that's bad, but if you're expecting something really new, don't go looking to this movie. This is just a typical action film, lots of guns, explosions and over the top scenes. Though maybe a little laid back compared to some of the stuff he's in like Transporter and Crank.

Would I recommend this one? Only to someone who really enjoys Statham movies, to someone who's not a fan off him, eh go watch Transporter. It's one of his best. I would say wait for a rental too since there's nothing really spectacular with the special effects that would demand seeing it on the big screen. It'd be a good Friday night rental.