The Mechanic / Le mécano (Bilingual) [Blu-ray]

This movie hits the road and keeps going. Good twists and turns, and Jason Statham is very easy on the eye.

The Mechanic(released Jan/11)is a remake of the original starring Charles Bronson.This time around we have Jason Stathamin the lead role as Aurthur Bishop,Ben Foster as Steve McKenna,Tony Goldwyn as Dean Sanderson,Donald Sutherland as Harry McKenna and others.Statham who has made a quite successful career out of being buffed and playing overly intense characters,is in true form here as The hitman everyone likes to hire but with a twist.Before I get into the film story,let me start by saying that the plot synopsis on the back cover on this DVD has it surprisingly wrong.I have never seen one this off where the main plot point is concerned.It says that Statham's mentor gets murdered and that Statham makes it his business to track down the killer.....riiight.Let us see what really happens.
Statham is a hit man for hire.He returns home after a job and meets up with his long time friend and mentor Sutherland.the two enjoy an amiable conversation and part.A new assignment comes up posted by Sutherland's partner Goldwyyn,whom he has a meeting with.It seems his mentor is the new hit,which doesn't sit well with Statham.Goldwyn says that he lost five good men in South Africa because Sutherland leaked the assignment.So now Statham has agreed to take his mentor out.
Statham gets Sutherland out of his office on a ruse,and caps him in an underground parking lot with Sutherland's own gun.Statham looks up Sutherland's only son,McKenna.His father has left him squat and he is at wits end as to what his next move will be.Statham decides to let him in on his assassins life and ways.He assists McKenna in a couple of a take downs.The last one involving a religious leader goes awry and Statham thinks their best bet is to fly away separately.At the airport Statham spots one of the so called dead men from the "botched" South African job.He follows and confronts the man,who admits that Goldwyn hired him to assassinate his partners and that he knows that Sutherland's death by Statham's hands was also a set up Goldwyn.Statham takes the man out and then heads out to kill Goldwyn with McKenna's help.After it's over McKenna spots his father's gun in Stathams things and realizes who it was who murdered him.At a gas station McKenna manages to blow up the vehicle he thinks Statham is sitting in.However,one doesn't kill Statham that easily and he indeed saw it coming and managed to slip out of the vehicle before it exploded.McKenna returns to Statham's digs and turns on his turntable,which Statham always told him to never touch.He Then goes out into Statham's garage and steals his prize XKE.Mckenna is barely away from Statham's home when he spots a folded piece of paper on the passengers seat.It says if he's reading this he's already dead.In a moment the rigged car explodes killing McKenna and a switch behind the turntable also detonates Statham's house.Statham is seen getting into a truck he had setup near the gas station,and then leaving.
The plot gets to a little meandering about half way through,mostly involving his tutoring of McKenna,but it manages to get back on track in the end.Statham is again at his intense best in this film as a man with a mission.Sutherland has a short role in this one but it is a memorable one.The film has alot of heavy hitting action that will please fans of this genre of film.Watch for New Orleans singer extraordinaire Linnzi Zaorski,who sings "Better off Dead",in a scene where Statham goes into a bar.
Technically speaking the film is in its w/s a/r of 2:35:1 and is clear and crisp.Extras include deleted scene,commentary and a featurette.
All in all a nice action mover courtesy of Jason Statham,who has made a very successful career,so far,playing the intense and buffed characters he has become famous for over the past few years.It's a plot with a bit of a nice twist and lots of action.Recommended.

This movie is made in the same vein as the Transporter series but with a bit more complex plot. But, typically, with all the action shots we have come to expect from Jason Statham. He never disappoints.