Remakes seem pretty popular these days, and “The Mechanic” is now on the list. This 2011 movie is a remake of the 1972 version, which starred Charles Bronson. It’s a movie about a contract killer, and the question is: is this movie a go-see or does it need fixing? Let’s find out!
Main Characters
The star of this movie is Arthur Bishop, who is played by actor Jason Statham. Bishop is a killer-for-hire, and he is very, very good. His specialty is making his hits look like everyday incidents – accidents or natural causes being top of the list. And as the movie opens, we see his first contract killing – a wealthy man swimming in his own private pool, with armed guards present. Yes, Bishop pulls it off, and escapes to safety.
One of Bishop’s closest friends is Harry McKenna, played by Donald Sutherland. So naturally Bishop is aghast when he finds his next contract is Harry! It seems that there was a mission in South Africa that went bad and only two people knew about it (Harry being one, and Bishop’s boss being the other). Harry got money as a trade for the contract details, so it’s his turn to die.
Bishop isn’t happy about it, but he does the contract and kills Harry, making it look like a carjacking gone bad. Meanwhile, Harry’s son, Steve McKenna (played by Ben Foster) is enraged over his father’s murder and wants to find and kill a carjacker as revenge.
And the Plot of The Mechanic Thickens…
Steve does go in search of a carjacker and finds one, but before Steve can kill him, Bishop intervenes. However, Bishop is intrigued by what Steve has done and takes him as a protegee of sorts, to show him what a “mechanic” (i.e. assassin) does.
So, Bishop takes Steve out on a contract, so he can see for himself what it’s like. Bishop strangles his hit, then stages it to look like an accidental asphyxiation. Then to train Steve further, Bishop explains the planning to takes to pull a hit off and make it appear to be an accident.
As you can imagine, there are yet more contracts for Bishop, and Steve gets more training along the way (in addition to being close to getting killed himself during the course of a contract). And what happens in the end is likely to surprise you!
Should You See The Mechanic?
Critics and audiences are about on the same wavelength for this movie; decent enough, but nothing to write home about. Or to put it another way, it’s definitely worth a matinee price ticket for almost anyone, but worth full price for only those who are into mayhem, or if you liked the original (because you’ll probably like this remake, too).
By all accounts, though, Jason Statham does a creditable job as a “mechanic”, the role that Charles Bronson had played in the 1972 version. Good work, Jason!