The Mechanic

The action genre seems to be one of the last where one star can make a movie successful. In the instance of The Mechanic, Jason Statham leads the charge as a hit man conflicted with the personal connection he feels to his latest victim (Donald Sutherland). Ben Foster also stars as that victim’s son. Throughout the film, Statham provides his usual solid performance as the loner tough guy without any history or personal relationships. We’ve seen this character before, but that brings about consistency where fans know they can count on Statham when he’s in the top billed position.

The script moves right along, as it is written to contain a series of unrelated hits and has a feeling of real life passage of time. Foster’s character goes through the traditional character arch as he learns the ins and outs of being an assassin. But the audience never grows a connection with him like they do with the static Statham, a mystery of the generic action film. Though as simple as it is in concept, it excels in execution (pun intended). Lots of people are killed and there is a ton of property damage, but in reality, if there were no drama it would be much less dramatic.

Though whatever drama is generated looses a step when the video game-esque music plays. Dramatic moments can be defined without the eerie soundtrack of a Scooby Doo episode. As bad as it is, it doesn’t ruin the movie. In fact, the only reason I’m making such a big deal of it is because the rest of The Mechanic plays out as advertised. This is not Statham’s best film, but it is good enough to add another title to the consistent actor’s catalog. I hope he continues with this reliability. (8.2 out of 10)