Business rating:  1.5 stars

Star cast: Jason Statham, Ben Foster.

What’s Good: Ben Foster’s performance; the action sequences.

What’s Bad: The average script; the contrived climax.

Verdict: The Mechanic provides the thrills but falls short in the story department.

Loo break: None.

Watch or Not? Watch it if you are a fan of well-executed but mindless action films; do not expect novelty or logic.

Millennium Films and Nu Image Entertainment’s The Mechanic is the story of an assassin and his unlikely relationship with the son of a man he has murdered.

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a ‘mechanic’– an ultra-assassin with the skill of eliminating targets without leaving any evidence. He does high-profile murders at the instruction of his mentor and good friend, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland). Harry, though bound to a wheel-chair, runs a profitable business, but complains about his son, Steve (Ben Foster), and Steve’s lack of responsibility. One day, Arthur is asked to eliminate Harry and is provided with evidence citing that Harry has gone rouge and has been siphoning off huge amounts of money. Arthur, the exacting and detached assassin that he is, goes through with the job. At Harry’s funeral, he meets Steve, who later requests Arthur to train him. Feeling guilty, Arthur agrees.

Trouble begins when Arthur discovers the aggressive side of Steve when the latter murders a target in an extremely brutal manner, instead of keeping it quiet. Moreover, Arthur also soon finds out that he had been cheated into killing Harry by the cartel boss, Dean (Tony Goldwyn). Repentant, Arthur keeps Steve with him, even allowing him to stay at his own house. Together, they execute a few more high-profile targets, and then Arthur decides to hit back at Dean. Soon, even Steve finds out that Arthur is his dad’s murderer. What happens next? Of the two revenge-seeking assassins, who wins the ultimate fight? The rest of the film answers these questions.

Story and Screenplay – The Mechanic Review

Lewis John Carlino’s story, about an assassin who operates with clockwork precision, is nothing new. In fact, many of Jason Statham’s earlier films, especially The Transporter series, are based on exactly the same premise. The writer tries to introduce conflict through the fact that the assassin and the son of a person he has murdered, are working together. However, the screenplay (Richard Wenk and Carlino) fails to capitalise on this. Instead, what works for the film are the well-shot action sequences, which abound in the latter half of the film. The climax, that is supposed to be a surprise, ends up being a rushed job and even evokes unnecessary laughter from the audience.

Star Performances – The Mechanic Review

Jason Statham does well. However, his performance is completely overshadowed by Ben Foster, who is excellent as the jumpy and unnerving trainee assassin. Jeff Chase acts well as Burke, the paedophile. Donald Sutherland and Tony Goldwyn provide able support. Mini Anden, as Arthur’s female companion, is okay.

Direction and Music – The Mechanic Review

Simon West’s direction is good. He maintains the pace of the film and keeps the latter half engaging but he is let down by the weak script. The central conflict and the climax, as mentioned, are not brought out well. Mark Isham’s background score goes with the theme of the film. Eric Schmidt’s camerawork is good. Editing, by T.G. Herrington and Todd E. Miller, is so-so. Technically, the film is good.

The Last Word
On the whole, The Mechanic is a botched action fare. Because of its weak script and the fact that there is really nothing in it for the lay audience, the film will fare poorly at the Indian box-office.

The Mechanic – Star cast:

Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland, Mini Anden.

The Mechanic – Plot:

Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a ‘mechanic’ – an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It’s a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed – he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry’s son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop’s trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can’t turn his back on Harry’s son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.

The Mechanic – India box-office expectations:

Jason Statham is a known face in India. Besides, Hollywood action movies do reasonable well in India, at least in their Hindi dubbed formats. The rest will depend on the reports that The Mechanic receives.

Jason Statham stars as The Mechanic, an assassin with a strict code and unique talents, in this re-imagining of the 1972 classic genre film which starred Charles Bronson in the title role.

When a United States government agency hires the Mechanic to take out a rogue spy or corrupt businessman, they sleep easy knowing the death will look like a tragic accident or a result of natural causes. The Mechanic’s study of a mark before a hit ensures that international incidents are avoided, scandals contained

But Bishop has reached a point in his career where he feels he’s had enough and is ready to retire on his substantial bank account and lead a normal life. But that just isn’t in the cards. So when he meets with his longtime colleague and only friend, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland) for one final job, he soon gets his assignment only to find out his target turns out to be Harry.

Of course, Harry has no idea until one night the electricity in his office shuts down and he finds himself being stalked as he makes his way down to the parking garage. And there he’s confronted by Bishop and they both know what Bishop has to do.

But that’s only the beginning of Bishop’s problems. Soon after he’s approached by Harry’s son, Steve McKenna (Ben Foster) who doesn’t believe that his father committed suicide as he’s been told. But rather Steve believes Harry was murdered and wants Bishop’s help finding and exacting revenge on the killer.

Bishop reluctantly agrees, but makes sure to keep Steve close to observe and test him first, expecting Steve will one day find out the truth and Bishop will have to kill him too. But strange thing happens. Bishop finds a lifetime of solitude and distrust fading in the light of the friendship he develops with Steve. Bishop even finds himself falling in love with Sarah (Mini Anden), a high-end escort he meets at a club.

Then Bishop decides to try throwing Steve off his quest  for revenge and then makes him believe that a man the government has assigned Bishop to kill is really Steve’s father’s assassin.  But when the hit goes awry at first Bishop and Steve are forced to fight side by side and only by working together are they the last ones standing.

Bishop is surprised to find he likes having a partner and Steve finds he likes being a mechanic. As the team takes on more hits, Bishop discovers that The Agency has started hiring him to kill some of their own agents. So he approaches his contact, Dean Sanderson (Tony Goldwyn) and says he wants to retire But as it’s made clear to him: “The only retired mechanic is a dead one.”

Bishop then realizes his future lies in killing Sanderson, no easy feat with all his heavy security. So Bishop enlists Steve to help him one last time, but little does he know that Steve has learned the truth about his father’s murder.