The Mechanic Dir. Simon West

[CBS Films; 2011]

Styles: Action
Others: The Transporter, The Transporter 2, The Transporter 3, Crank, Crank 2: High Voltage

Simon West’s The Mechanic is a vicious little movie with simple ambitions. Competently directed and acted, it could have been more — an unwavering look at two ruthlessly violent men — but the screenplay holds back when it should embrace its bloodthirsty aggression. Falling short of the glorious mayhem found in Statham’s earlier efforts, this update of the Charles Bronson classic is entertaining yet ordinary.

Arthur (Jason Statham) is the titular mechanic, a tough-guy synonym for a skilled assassin. For his latest assignment, Arthur must kill Harry (Donald Sutherland), his wheelchair-confined mentor. Arthur shoots a bullet into Harry’s chest, but only after he’s goaded by Dean (Tony Goldwyn), his handler. This coldblooded murder leaves Arthur with residual guilt, so when he discovers Harry’s son Steven (Ben Foster) has become a vigilante, Arthur decides to teach Steven the tools of his trade. Training begins, and after a montage of machine gun fire, Steven magically transforms from an alcoholic into an alcoholic karate expert. The cold-hearted pair takes assignments together, and before long, the nature of Harry’s death creates a rift between Arthur and his protégé.

Statham’s career revolves around movies like this, so it’s easy to understand why he’d return to the role. With a compact frame and a steely gaze, he has no trouble treating absurdity as if it were deadly serious. He’s at his best, therefore, when a director heightens the chaos. Placed in an implausibly violent situation, Statham’s one-note performance functions as a dependable anchor. Here, the set-pieces see enough action to rival Crank and The Transporter, yet West holds back when Arthur’s behavior is about to get interesting. At one point, Arthur threatens to torture a functionary’s daughter until said functionary tells Arthur the information he needs. Had the scene proceeded in accordance with the movie’s overall tone, Arthur could have become a memorable anti-hero. Instead, screenwriters Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino hold back, and Arthur amounts to little more than a Jack Bauer clone with a foreign accent.

Simon West is best known for Con Air, a late-90s action extravaganza that succeeded through sheer spectacle and an A-list cast. With fewer stars and a modest budget, West still knows his way around an action scene. In the movie’s most memorable sequence, Steven seduces a behemoth of a hitman before they beat each other with household objects barely within their reach. An uneasy juxtaposition of homophobia and hand-to-hand brutality help the brawl crackle with energy. West also gets considerable assistance from Ben Foster, who adds carefully-measured anger to a character that, on paper, requires little more than a bad attitude. Yet Foster’s solid work is lost among a torrent of gunfire, bloodshed, and semi-serious one-liners. Accurately marketed, The Mechanic fulfills its promise and is one of the more violent movies in recent memory, yet its halfhearted nihilism left me wondering whether it could have been more.

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