Tired of movies that are too good? Sick of movies that are too bad? Ready for something that’s right in the middle? Look no further, it’s The Mechanic!
Arthur (Jason Statham) is a cold hearted mechanic, a.k.a. hitman, who excels in killing people discreetly and making it look like an accident. His mentor’s son, Steve McKenna (Ben Foster), wants to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a hit man so Arthur begins his training. Working together quickly makes them the best bosom buddies either of them has ever had, and together they take on the head “mechanic.”
Sounds good right? The trailer looked great! I was super excited to see The Mechanic, but then I actually watched it.
Sigh.
What doesn’t work, here? Let’s start with characterization. Almost every dude in The Mechanic can best be summarized by Paula Abdul’s song “Cold Hearted.” For those of you who aren’t cool like me and don’t know the song, these are the lyrics I’m talking about: He’s a cold-hearted snake, Look into his eyes, oh ohhh, He’s been tellin’ lies. Statham gives a standard performance here; he’s a reliable performer who really shines when given the right script to work with, and, much like your local mechanic, his work here gets the job done and nothing more.
I say “pew pew” now.
I would be happy to say even this much characterization exists for the female characters, but there weren’t any. Only the traditional, barely there roles of prostitute, mother, and daughter. This is a movie from 2010 about manly men!
The manly men are so cold hearted, you don’t care about any of them or what happens to them. And since I don’t care about the protagonists, it makes it harder to feel satisfied seeing the antagonists geet comeuppance. Part of what makes a good action flick is that we get to see scener-chewing villains get what they deserve… but the scenery remained thoroughly unchewed, and my interest equally un-piqued.
Now, onto the action! Where was it? All of the action scenes are shown in the trailer. They spent more time drinking than they did killing people. The Mechanic has a great opening sequence, goes downhill in the second act, but then finally picks up with the action in the third act. Is it too much to ask for a film to spread the action out a little more evenly? Are my expectations just too high?
The Mechanic hits right in the center of the good-bad scale. It’s one of the okayest films I’ve ever scene. There were cool moments. There were dull moments. The actors acted, choreographers choreographed, and gaffers gaffed.
As an audience member, you can do worse, and you can do better.
Time Until the Action Starts: ~ 2 minutes
Baddies: Dean (Tony Goldwyn), head of the “mechanics.”
Best Line: “You’re a goddamn machine.”
Best Kill: Bad guys are walking along a dock when Arthur jumps out of the water and spears one right in the calf muscle. The baddie falls down screaming with his head hanging over the edge of the dock. Arthur then gives him the ol’ pennsylvania crackadoo and snaps his neck.
Now I walk away from explosions without looking.
Best Explosion: Steve and Arthur are driving after their main baddie, Dean, who is surrounded by cars in front and back of him. One by one they pick off the cars surrounding Dean. Steve hijacks a city bus and is driving it head on into the first car of the baddie’s entourage. Steve bails just in time when the car collides with the bus, driving up into it and exploding.
Action Rating: 2 Mechanics, out of 5.
This is the Action Flick Chick, and you’ve just been kicked in the ass!
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I saw a more than an adequate amount of action in the film, especially when compared to the original which you didn’t even mention in the above review. You can check it out on Netflix Instant.
shortened link = http://is.gd/MECH11