Mechanic: Resurrection, 2016.
Directed by Dennis Gansel.
Starring Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Michelle Yeoh, Tommy Lee Jones and Sam Hazeldine.
SYNOPSIS:
Arthur Bishop thought he had put his murderous past behind him when his most formidable foe kidnaps the love of his life. Now he is forced to travel the globe to complete three impossible assassinations, and do what he does best, make them look like accidents.
To say that I love a Jason Statham movie is an understatement. The Transporter films are awesome, Crank and Spy are is hilarious and his first outing as assassin Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic (2011) was thrilling and tense. Its sequel Mechanic: Resurrection has none of the Statham charm that we’ve come to know and love. This time around Bishop is leading the quiet life when his former foe Crain (Hazeldine) insists that he kills 3 of his enemies. Not having any of it Bishop flees to Thailand and hangs out with a woman named Mei (Yeoh) and eventually meets Gina (Alba) who he seems to rapidly fall in love with. Fast forward to a kidnap and Bishop sets about killing the three targets and trying to get the girl back.
Let’s start with the good. Statham’s action skills are on top form as always. The fights are well choreographed and he throws himself into each ludicrous scenario with the gusto that we love to see from an action star. Whilst Bishop isn’t overly charming, Statham does get a couple of good lines. And that’s it for the good.
The bad: Jessica Alba’s character is the weakest damsel in distress that I’ve seen for years. This ex-soldier/charity aid worker has apparently been in life and death situations before yet she gets captured easily, barely throws a punch and seems content to let the man come and save the day. In this day and age is it too much to ask for a bit of gumption from a female lead? Watching Alba I could feel myself slipping into a coma as every scene she’s in feels forced and uncomfortable. Then we have the nemesis Crain played by Sam Hazeldine. The acting isn’t brilliant but it’s not bad, what’s really lacking here is any sense of real menace. There’s a half arsed back story about why he hates Bishop but it never makes much sense and to be honest you don’t really care. The acting talents of Michelle Yeoh and Tommy Lee Jones are wasted and these phenomenal actors are reduced to nothing more than glorified cameos. If you’ve got Michelle Yeoh in your movie, use her!
Whilst the first film wasn’t brilliant, it had some good plot twists, excellent action and great chemistry between Statham and Ben Foster. There’s none of that this time round. The plot jumps all over the place and there’s so much globe trotting happening that you’d think Bishop was on his gap year. The direction is sloppy and incoherent at times and it feels like there are plot holes all over the place. Whilst I don’t go to see a Statham movie for a great script, I do at least want a bit of effort put in. Bishop’s signature style of killing people and making it look like an accident is what makes him so interesting. Instead of seeing how his plans together we get an annoying narration from big bad Crain before each kill and some shots of Bishop testing out a few explosives and then executing his mission. There’s no nuance to Bishop this time around, all we have is his desire to save the girl he’s been with for a couple of days and nothing else.
Mechanic: Resurrection is another underwhelming sequel for 2016. Whilst Statham is the best thing in it, even he can’t save this dull dud.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★
Helen Murdoch
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https://youtu.be/b7Ozs5mj5ao?list=PL18yMRIfoszEaHYNDTy5C-cH9Oa2gN5ng
Originally published August 30, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
