Title: Mechanic: Resurrection
Director: Dennis Gansel
Writers: Philip Shelby, Tony Mosher
Stars: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Sam Hazeldine
Release Date: In cinemas 1st September 2016
Review by: Dave Griffiths
You could be forgiven for not knowing that Jason Statham’s latest film – Mechanic: Resurrection’– has hit cinemas. It is one of those films that has snuck into cinemas with very little advertising and no press screenings… a complete mystery seeing this is one of the better action films to have surfaced this year. Yes, it is even better than Jason Bourne.
Fans of the first film will know that Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham – The Transporter) is a gifted hitman who can make any killing look like an accident. After the events of the first film he has decided to stay ‘dead’, and is now operating as a tour boat operator in Brazil. His hideout is discovered though by a gangster named Crain (Sam Hazeldine – The Raven) who in a bid to get Bishop to murder rival arms dealers including the eccentric Max Adams (Tommy Lee Jones – Men In Black) by kidnapping the love of Bishop’s life innocent, care-worker Gina (Jessica Alba – Sin City).
Where Mechanic: Resurrection is superior to most of the actions films this year is that it does more than just be a cliché for the genre. While it is easily a film that is going to be enjoyed more by hardened Statham fans, as far as action films go by themselves it works remarkably well. The screenwriters team up with director Dennis Gansel (We Are The Night) and end up creating an action film with enough twists and turns to keep the audience guessing from scene-to-scene.
While some of Crane’s goons are walking clichés, the storyline itself is not. Yes, it has been done before, and not just on screen – computer game fans will see the comparisons to the game Getaway in an instant – and yet there is still an air of difference around this film. One of the things that hits the audience is the lack of car chases etc… of course when you think about it that’s the way it should be. Bishop is good at his job, he gets in and gets out without the authorities even knowing he has been there… just the way an expert hitman should. No, the suspense here centres around whether or not Crain will ever give up Gina and of course the unique ways that Bishop has to come up with to kill the unkillable. Whether it be someone in a Malaysian prison or a billionaire with a fortress in the sky apartment in Sydney, Bishop’s way of killing always has a lot of thought put into by the screenwriters.
Statham just cruises through this film never really getting out of first gear, and at times you can really see the smile on his face as he gets to punch and elbow extras in the face mercilessly. It’s also great to see Jessica Alba back on the big screen as well, but the actor here who really steals the show is Tommy Lee Jones who seems to relish getting to play flamboyant arms dealer so well that it feels like he is auditioning to play a Bond villain.
Mechanic: Resurrection is one of the surprise action films of the year. Its nautical style and well-explained script make this a great film for fans of the genre.
3.5 stars
