To say that Jason Statham movies are predictable is like saying water is wet. You might as well save your breath instead of pointing out the obvious. There hasn't been one movie he's been in or done that you didn't have some kind of idea as to what the outcome was going to be, an outcome you saw coming a mile down the road. That's pretty much excatly how you may feel halfway through his latest offering "The Mechanic". If you can't figure this movies plot out and see what's coming at you at breakneck speed then you really need to open your eyes. From his Transporter movies to his turn in his Crank, The Italian Job, The Bank Job and others Jason never ever surprises you. He plays that scowling loner type to perfection and that's on full display in "Mechanic". Directed by Simon West who's done way more TV movies than feature films, The Mechanic is a stiff, leaden film with no humor and no light anywhere. It's shot with a murky look and that's a shame since the main character of the film, Statham's "Arthur Bishop" lives in New Orleans. None of what makes New Orleans special or beautiful is in this movie and it could have been a character in the movie alongside the incomparable Donald Sutherland, the talented Ben Forster, and the seedy Tony Goldwyn (and if someone can tell me what happened to that mans eyebrows I would appreciate it).
Bishop is a hit man, a mechanic and he's considered one of the elite in his craft and dedicated. His percision is supposed to be shown by how he takes care of his house and how he rebuilds an antique Jaguar automobile. He shows his talents when the movie opens by taking out the leader of some drug cartel who's death was blamed on an accidental drowning. His next assignment though is to take out a good friend and he has second thoughts and wants to speak the man behind the hit. When Bishop is assured that with or without him the hit will go through and once the assignment is complete Ben Forster shows up playing Steve Mckenna, the detatched son of Bishops mentor Harry McKenna played by Donald Sutherland.
Steve wants to learn how to become a mechanic and because Bishop feels he owes it to him he decides to mentor the son of his mentor. Now that's a good start to a story line but just when this movie could take off and become something it retreats into something so utterly predictable that if it weren't for the bullets flying and the CG blood it would put you to sleep.
Bishop is a hit man, a mechanic and he's considered one of the elite in his craft and dedicated. His percision is supposed to be shown by how he takes care of his house and how he rebuilds an antique Jaguar automobile. He shows his talents when the movie opens by taking out the leader of some drug cartel who's death was blamed on an accidental drowning. His next assignment though is to take out a good friend and he has second thoughts and wants to speak the man behind the hit. When Bishop is assured that with or without him the hit will go through and once the assignment is complete Ben Forster shows up playing Steve Mckenna, the detatched son of Bishops mentor Harry McKenna played by Donald Sutherland.
Steve wants to learn how to become a mechanic and because Bishop feels he owes it to him he decides to mentor the son of his mentor. Now that's a good start to a story line but just when this movie could take off and become something it retreats into something so utterly predictable that if it weren't for the bullets flying and the CG blood it would put you to sleep.
Like I stated earlier the film is shot in a style so dark and murkily that even David Fincher would have a problem with it. It was scored by the talented Mark Isham of who I am a tremendous fan but this score was amazingly bad. There was nothing to it, no depth, no charm, no heart which was pretty much like the movie the music was married to. If I had to rate this film on the five bullet scale, sadly the clip would be empty.
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