Review: The Mechanic

Grade: B

Arthur Bishop is the best mechanic there is, but not in the typical sense of the word. He is an elite assassin with a unique talent for cleanly killing people and making it look like an accident. One day, the people he works for give him his hardest assignment yet, he must kill his only friend and mentor, Harry. After he completes the job, he befriends Harry’s son, Steve, who is looking for vengeance but doesn’t know that it was Arthur who killed his father. Against his better judgment, Arthur decides to begin training Steve to become a mechanic as well. As the two prepare to take on a high valued target, secrets become revealed about the people they work for and they become targets themselves.

The Mechanic is a fun and enjoyable action movie. It does start out a little slow but the story itself is pretty good and keeps you interested during those slow moments. Once Arthur actually begins to train Steve, that is when things really start to get interesting. The two main characters are very different people and it’s interesting to watch them work together. Arthur is cold and calculating, never making a misstep and planning everything out way in advance. Steve on the other hand is extremely impulsive and that gets him into trouble a couple of times. The last 20 to 30 minutes of the movie make the whole experience worth it. The movie has a couple interesting twists in it and it has plenty of action and gunfights to keep you on the edge of your seat.

Jason Statham (The Transporter, Crank) plays the role of Arthur, the mechanic. I really enjoy Statham and all of the movies he’s done. The Mechanic is in all honesty a pretty typical Statham movie, he seems to play these types of roles a lot. I don’t know if it’s type casting or if it’s what he really wants to do, I honestly don’t care because I can’t get enough of these movies. He was great in this movie and is what completely sold the movie for me. Ben Foster (Pandorum, 3:10 to Yuma) plays Steve, the son of Arthur’s mentor. Foster is great and he was very enjoyable in this movie. He played the role extremely well and played alongside Statham extremely well. Donald Sutherland is also in the movie as Harry, he’s not in it long but he is always enjoyable to watch on screen.

The Mechanic is a pretty typical assassin/action movie and a pretty typical Jason Statham movie. So if you’re like me and love those two types of movies, than I suggest getting out and seeing this movie, you will definitely enjoy it. It is loaded with action, sex, and violence and with just a touch of humor. Plus, let’s be honest, during the slow movie months of January and February, there’s not much else to see.