SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Prismark10 The Mechanic is a remake of the Michael Winner directed thriller from the 1970s starring Charles Bronson. The remake is a minor pleasure, a stripped down film with Jason Statham playing Arthur Bishop as a reclusive killer who performs hits for a mysterious organisation.His initial scene demonstrates his expertise as Bishop takes out a Colombian drug lord in a crafty manner.Trouble ensues when Bishop is tasked to take out his mentor, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) who is accused of being dirty. Harry's partner Dean (Tony Goldwyn) shows Arthur some evidence of Harry's misdeeds and reluctantly carries out the hit without smelling a double cross, a flaw in the remake and I guess in the original as well.After Harry's death Bishop has to deal with Steve, Harry's estranged son (Ben Foster) and trains him as an assassin in order to stay close with him and also because he feels guilt about what he did to Harry.However this is a start of a cat mouse game as we reckon Steve although close to Bishop also suspects him and is biding his time to gain revenge, while Bishop figures out who the real behind the scenes manipulator was.Director Simon West goes for lean and mean action scenes and relies on Foster's nervy energy to keep things ticking along. Statham's Bishop is painted too much of a nice guy and never comes close to Bronson's silent menace in the original.The film is an enjoyable and engaging action film that never strays too far as a B movie. It wastes some of its supporting actors and despite some good action scenes you feel its rather flawed here and there. Its main failing being you know who the main villain is going to be as he lumbers around like a ghost.

Tss5078 In recent years, Director Simon West has become known for turning simple action movies into big hits, thanks his unique story lines. The story doesn't actually mean as much in action films as it does in other genres, because as long as people are getting killed and things are blowing up, most action fans are satisfied. Simon West wasn't and in recent years, he has given us some great stories to go along with the amazing action. His most recent film is actually a remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson classic, by the same name. The Mechanic is a code name for CIA hit-man, Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham). For years, the Mechanic has gotten the job done without question, until one day his next target is revealed as his mentor. The stories are similar, but the special effects and action moves are much more intense, and we have Jason Statham to thank for that. This man has single handedly taken action films to another level. For those unfamiliar, the man speaks several different languages, is trained in dozens of forms of fighting, and he's quick with a joke, many of which are unscripted. Every film Statham does is entertaining for his tremendous moves and unpredictability. The Mechanic gives Statham the chance to show off his talents and for that, I loved it, but trying to modernize the original story without changing it all that much, makes things feel a little outdated. I found many things to be tame by today's standards and the film itself does suffer because of it. Statham is paired with Ben Foster and that's problematic for the film as well. Foster is not known as an action star, he's the complete opposite of Statham, and in this case opposites do not attract, they had no chemistry whatsoever. In my opinion, Jonathan Rhys-Myers or Alex Pettyfer would have been a much better choice, but I am just a reviewer. That being said, the Mechanic isn't a bad movie, it has all the moves and wit of a typical Statham movie, but the story is more than a little outdated and aside from Statham and Sutherland, the casting left a lot to be desired.

Python Hyena The Mechanic (2011): Dir: Simon West / Cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Tony Goldwyn, Jeff Chase: The title fits its formula structure in this remake about the things that we can and cannot fix. Jason Statham plays a hired assassin whose methods involve murders that appear to be accidents. When he is put in position to kill his employer he is faced with training his son in the art of killing without suspicion. Director Simon West handles the action effectively with numerous explosions. He previously made the intelligent action thriller The General's Daughter as well as the unnecessary remake of When a Stranger Calls that absolutely no one asked for. Statham is fine in familiar ground. His assassin is smart but must deal with his latest victim due to the person's son and the betrayal. Ben Foster steals scenes as Statham's employer's son whose rage enables him to complete a task without obvious casualties. Statham prefers perfected conclusions without future disturbances, while Foster could care less as long as his anger is satisfied. The conclusion is hardly an applause when one factor must cancel out another. Supporting roles are an unfortunate mix of bland writing and actors worthy of better material. Donald Sutherland is wasted as Statham's wheelchair bound boss whom he is betrayed into killing. Tony Goldwyn has the unfortunate job of portraying the cardboard villain who will get his in the end. Pointless action farce that is more about exploiting mindless violence as oppose to dealing with the nature of it. In the end it is a mechanic malfunction. Score: 4 / 10

sesht Almost everyone I know that has watched this, and the original, swears by the original. Might be true to the extent of how derivative most Simon West movies are. But, for me, someone who hasn't seen the original (my local library has a copy - I'll visit it soon), this one delivered. It's not just another serviceable thriller, though it is predictable the way most mainstream action movies are. However, since its Statham we're talking about, I have to say that this one's quite a few notches superior to his 'Transporter' series (of which I only have affection for the first one), or his 'Expendables' series (West directed the 2nd one, which many fans call the best in the series). The casting's pitch-perfect, and it was an inspired casting choice bringing Ben Foster in, who's walked away with every scene even in the high-profile mainstream flicks he's starred in, including 'Hostage', 'Lone Survivor' and '3:10 to Yuma' (where he upstaged both Bale and Crowe, even though they were were in fine form throughout that superior remake) and had a fantastic turn with Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton in 'The Messenger'. His role in this is weaker, relatively speaking, and he doesn't have much opportunity to flex his acting chops, since this is Statham's vehicle all the way. But knowing him from all those other efforts, he tries gamely, and gives Statham quite a bit of company, and though I wish his arc was stronger/better-defined, this was better than if someone else was cast in the same role.Sutherland gets too little screen-time, and is wasted, but once again, it's better to have had him in the role than any other alternative.The R-rated action is of the take-no-prisoners variety, juggling that approach with the artistic license / suspension-of-disbelief factor that plagues almost all mainstream action-flicks (thankfully not to the lengths that most B/Tollywood flicks plumb the depths of), that doesn't quite reach the bottoms to which the 'Transporter' movies succumbed to, so that's definitely a relief.Pity it wasn't more substantial though, and hopefully the sequel that's been announced has something good and surprising in store. Worth a watch.