COLUMN: Action movie intense, not good
“The Mechanic” would have had me sweating at the seams the whole time if it weren’t for the air-conditioned theater. I would have to describe this movie as dreadful but intense.
Knowing that “mechanic” is simply a code name for hit man, you know that Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is lethal, right off the bat. “The Mechanic” is a thriller about a professional killer who trains his apprentice with a connection to one of his previous victims.
Bishop is the best of the best. The difference is he is slightly more moral than his employer. When Bishop is fed false information resulting in a death of an innocent man, he seeks justice.
“The Mechanic” was just another typical Jason Statham flick. He is really good at what he does. He looks good on screen, portrays the character well and, most impressive of all, manages to never smile. Statham is as ruggedly handsome as they come for 40-year-olds, but if I don’t see those pearly whites, I am not sold. The entire movie, and not to mention his famous “Transporter” roles, he looked serious with consistently furrowed eyebrows.
I always say that comedy is harder to do than drama, and if drama is all Statham can pull off, he is not even close to Oscar material. On the other hand, Ben Foster, who played Bishop’s apprentice Steve McKenna can easily and naturally play both styles. If “the Mechanic” had any great thing about it, it was Foster. He explored and demonstrated every human emotion through his character.
The movie has a very serious feel to it until Foster’s character appears. From then on, it feels a little more light-hearted. It’s a shame he wasted that raw talent on an overdone film.
Writers Richard Wenk and Lewis John Carlino created a story from good intentions and clever dialogue. The screenplay, unfortunately, doesn’t make the final cut in my book.
The fact that there was a very unnecessary scene of, shall we say, nude passion, does not add to “The Mechanic’s” rating whatsoever. I get the fact that “knocking boots” on screen is the current fad, but when it has nothing to do with the storyline and is there just to be there, I don’t understand. What was the point of that? Maybe director Simon West was trying to lengthen the film; it was a whopping hour and 40 minutes long, after all.
The soundtrack was obviously picked carefully. The meticulous selection found me searching the web after the movie for the artists of the songs. Each song appropriately set the mood for the given scenes. Without the music, and Ben Foster of course, “The Mechanic” would have been just plain bad.
If you want to see this new blockbuster, wait until it comes to Redbox and then make sure you have a promo code to get it for free. It certainly was not good enough to pay full price.
– Anike.pullens@aggiemail.usu.edu