FotN • The Mechanic

a visual orgy :: night at the movies


Another trailer that has more action than the movie? Almost...
The trailer is a thing of beauty, really. The studio has the editor go through all the footage and snatch up the fun little segments, stringing them together so that the potential viewer gets excited to spend their hard earned money to go and see the film. Another angle of its creation, though, is steering expectations of the film. This trailer did so beautifully. Unfortunately, this trailer is also 90% of the action in this damn movie. It's also a good indication of the frantic editing.

Based on the 1972 movie of the same name, Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop [played in the original by Charles Bronson], employed by a company to eliminate people for a price. The difference between him and any other hired gun is that he's a Mechanic: utilizing specialized training he received from his mentor [Donald Sutherland], he orchestrates elaborate ways for his targets to die, depending on the assignment's stipulations. Things are going smoothly until Bishop receives an order to kill his mentor [guess what happens at the end]. He... does. His mentor's son is an alcoholic and gets trained by Bishop via montage. Double-cross hits a little after the hour mark, and that whole "Not if I get to you first" thing from the trailer enters 15 minutes later, which gets resolved 3 minutes [yeah... -_-], and credits roll at an hour and 25 minutes. What you didn't get from the trailer is shallow dialog attempting to craft a story, as well as a dozen or so meaningless musical interludes sporadically placed. Not to mention an ending that can be best described by a certain clown.


There's got to be something good about this film... Somewhere...
Looking back on it, I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I heard about this flick. I guess I was looking for more... entertainment. I really had fun with Statham's other flicks where he basically raises hell, and hoped I could add this to the list. I was wrong [both good and bad]. 'The Mechanic' brought forth potential as an assassin-esque thriller. The methodical planning and pacing at parts would have been perfect for it. Plus, with as much dialog as there was, I started believing it would go that route. And then... it fell on its face. And stubbed a toe here and there. Maybe walking into a door once. Repeatedly, the movie segues from one scene to the next via shattered editing of clips with the choruses to songs in the background. It's as if you had a three dozen channels of the same scene [from different angles], muted it, and played part of an unrelated song on your stereo while you flipped through the channels as quickly as possible. This happens. A lot.

I have to admit that most of the action scenes were fun, but felt out of place with how methodical this Mechanic was supposed to be. A big reason why these scenes occur, though, is because Bishop's underling/mentor's son/thorn-in-the-side/alcoholic idiot Steve McKenna [Ben Foster] keeps fucking shit up. Watching this, I can't help but wonder if the guilt Bishop apparently has [which Statham shows almost none of] is honestly worth having this schmuck follow him around. The last half an hour, which was a complete joke, left an unsavory taste in my mouth. After I saw the end of the original, though, it made sense in a 'reference' aspect, but the end to that movie was just as full of "what the fuck" as this one. Sometimes it's okay not to do what the original did.

'The Mechanic' did what many films I've seen have done: fail at achieving their potential. This film had a chance to be a great thriller, but was undone by shitty editing and needless explosion filled scenes. If you really want to check it out, wait to rent it. You'll forget about it days after viewing and you sure as hell don't want to add it to a Statham collection.

Mini Anden was hot in her 30 seconds of screen time, though.

RATING:


rock hard. live harder. o_O