Statham’s Mechanic Not Worthy of Resurrection
Years after faking his own death, former assassin Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) has been found living in quiet seclusion in South America. Not wanting to go back to work, he races to Thailand to meet up with old friend Mei (Michelle Yeoh), hoping she can help him put the dots together so he can ascertain the identity of the person trying to pull him out of retirement. But, before that can happen, he rescues the beautiful Gina (Jessica Alba) from an abusive boyfriend, inadvertently starting a chain reaction that gets him back into the assassination game whether he likes it or not.
PHOTO: Summit Entertainment
A sequel nobody was really asking for, Mechanic: Resurrection is fairly convoluted for a B-grade action throwback that instantly reminds one of the silly spectacles Chuck Norris or Charles Bronson would have made for Canon Pictures back in the day. Turns out, Gina is a mole for a ruthless businessman named Crain (Sam Hazeldine), who also happens to be an old compatriot of Bishop’s, and he wants his childhood friend to rub out three members of his competition, including flamboyant American ex-patriot and arms dealer Max Adams (Tommy Lee Jones). If not, he’ll kill the girl and then reveal to the world that this long thought deceased hitman is actually very much alive, instantly making him a target for law enforcement agencies all over the globe.
Funny thing, thanks in large part to German director Dennis Gansel’s (We Are the Night, The Wave) playful, lithely exuberant handling of things, the movie is far more enjoyable than it likely has any right to be. In fact, it’s far more engaging than its 2010 predecessor ever was, that dour, overstuffed remake of the 1972 Charles Bronson / Jan-Michael Vincent original a frustratingly flawed disaster the less said about the better. Moving at a breakneck pace, filled with some inventive set pieces and a few nicely staged run-and-gun action beats, this sequel utilizes Statham’s steely masculinity quite nicely, and as such ends up being far easier to watch than it likely has any right to be.
Sadly, this doesn’t make the sequel anything close to good, because for all its charms Philip Shelby (Survivor) and newcomer Tony Mosher’s script is oftentimes running on empty, the simple-minded stupidity of the central plot dynamics growing increasingly tiresome as events progress. Also, it’s shockingly brutal as it pertains to Alba’s Gina, and after about the fifth time she got punched in the face or body slammed into a wall for no particular reason other than to keep showing just how evil the villains were any growing affinity I had for the film was pretty much over then and there. Certainly, the character does get in a couple of solid licks against her assailants, but not in a way that means anything concrete, Gina nothing more than a bloodied-up damsel in distress waiting for Bishop to come rescue her.
The fact that the sequel almost overcomes these shortcomings is almost entirely thanks to Gansel. He constructs action sequences much in the same way an old school Hollywood auteur like Vincente Minnelli would orchestrate a dance routine, meaning he makes sure the eye can always follow along with what is happening at any given second. There is an organic quality to the fisticuffs and to the shootouts that you don’t always see in modern action fare, the filmmaker eschewing the quick-cut esthetic of a Michael Bay or a Brett Ratner. Instead, Gansel paints with a far more cinematic brush, utilizing every inch of the frame while playing cat and mouse with the viewer as Bishop circles in on his chosen prey.
PHOTO: Summit Entertainment
But Hazeldine, so good on “Peaky Blinders” and in ‘71, is a feckless villain, and whoever thought it would be a great idea to put Yeoh in a silly pulp action movie and then not have her engage in any of the actual action should probably have their head examined. Also, for someone who has been built up to be as much of an intellectual threat as he is a physical one, Bishop can be amazingly stupid, and how he ends up allowing himself to get put under Crain’s thumb, especially as its happens right after he explains to Gina he’s already seen through the bad guy’s plan, is just plain idiotic.
Still, I can’t hate on Mechanic: Resurrection. I loved that Adams’ secret lair was something straight out of You Only Live Twice or The Spy Who Loved Me, and even though he’s clearly just picking up a quick paycheck Jones appears to be having an absolute blast as the whacked-out arms dealer. Statham, even after more than a decade appearing in roles just like this one, is still as physically impressive as ever, the ferocity with which he throws a punch or delivers a kick to the head as impactful now as it ever was back in the day. Heck, had Gansel been given a script that seemed to care about whether or not it made a lick of sense or didn’t insult the intelligence of the viewer, this sequel could have been fun, and while the fact it isn’t is hardly a surprise that doesn’t lessen my disappointment one little bit.
Film Rating: 2 (out of 4)
