The Mechanic

Review by Pete Roche

Victory loves preparation, and few are more prepared than New Orleans hit man Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham). 

Bishop is a “mechanic” paid by a clandestine Organization to “fix” problems—which he does with clinical precision, ingenuity, and uncanny detachment.  He’s reliable as a Swiss watch; even his mentor calls him “a machine.”  He employs theater to make it appear his victims died either accidentally or by someone else’s hands.  He’s the kind of guy who tosses cellphones into dumpsters after a single use and prefers meeting in crowded places to avoid detection.  Bishop retires to a secluded stilt-house in the bayou after each job with an envelope full of cash—and very little remorse.  But work gets personal after Bishop’s friend, Harry McKenna (Donald Sutherland), is murdered in what appears to be a botched carjacking.  

Bishop suspects Organization boss Dean Sanderson (Tony Goldwyn) ordered the hit under false pretenses.  Death is just another business transaction in this game, but Bishop can’t shake thoughts of retribution against his employer.  So when Harry’s aimless son Steve (Ben Foster) turns up hungry for vengeance, Bishop feels obliged to take him in.  He teaches the kid surveillance and firearms.  He trains his pupil to infiltrate the minds (and routines) of others by exploiting their weaknesses, be it a watch, sports car—or chinchilla. 

Steve’s first mission pits him against a 320-pound Goliath.  Eager to prove himself, the newbie ignores Bishop’s advice to not engage his opponent.  The brutal struggle that ensues demolishes an entire house.  Another job targeting a crackpot evangelist finds the razor-stubbled ruffians dodging bullets and repelling off rooftops.

Dean is incensed with Bishop’s impetuous understudy and, surmising they might be onto him, dispatches teams to “fix” the mechanics.  The body count rises as the thugs repeatedly underestimate Bishop’s resourcefulness.

“I’ll put a price on your head so big,” Dean seethes, “That when you look in the mirror your reflection will want to shoot you in the face!”

Goldwyn hasn’t played a villain this vile since his turn as Patrick Swayze’s double-crossing friend Carl in GHOST.  Twenty years later, the actor’s heavy eyelids project a bureaucratic menace that fits the bill. 

Statham’s played the rogue before (THE TRANSPORTER, CRANK), so his fans—who pay to see machine guns and martial arts—won’t mind that Bishop has neither a past nor much emotional resonance (notwithstanding his troubled conscience).  Statham is a physical force—an athlete—and director Simon West (CON-AIR, TOMB RAIDER) wisely gives him some wiggle room, augmented by artsy slow-mo shots of shells discharging from a cadre of weapons.  Foster (THE MESSENGER, X-MEN: LAST STAND) is convincing as the despondent, undisciplined son hell-bent on payback.      

THE MECHANIC successfully melds action with existentialism and begs the same question posed by the original 1972 Charles Bronson film:  Should morality have any part in the life of a contract killer? 

“It doesn’t matter,” Steve concludes.  “Just as long as they’re dead, and you’re alive.”  2 ½ out of 4 stars.