First Hit: Entertaining enough to make it fun to watch.
I recall the first “The Mechanic” film I saw in 1972, which starred Charles Bronson as Arthur Bishop. I liked the concept of an, almost heatless, assassin for hire. Bronson didn’t talk much and let his body, action and eyes do his speaking for him. He was rough but very thoughtful in his preparation to carry out his mission.
In 2011 “The Mechanic” was remade with Jason Statham playing the role of Arthur Bishop. The plot of these two films were closely aligned and Statham did a really good job of recreating this role that Bronson played so effectively. He also brought a glint of heart to the role.
In this reprise of the same character, Bishop has attempted to hide away and live a quiet life in Rio de Janeiro. However, he gets a visit from an agent of Crain (Sam Hazeldine) who wants Bishop to do 3 more assassinations. Bishop refuses and heads to another small shack in Thailand.
Here Mei (Michelle Yeoh) helps him get settled. When a tourist name Gina (Jessica Alba) gets in trouble Bishop saves her but it is all a plot by Crain to get Bishop do to the assassinations. Leveraged, Bishop ingeniously does his work but also goes after Crain.
The setups of the assassinations are interesting and engaging. The overall plot is a bit weak, but the way the actors play their roles keeps the whole film entertaining and the audience engaged.
Statham is a great choice for this character as he leads with intelligence before brawn. You also get to see that Bishop cares. Alba is OK and helped the plot along. Yeoh was good as the person Bishop once helped and will do anything to help him. Hazeldine was sinister enough. Tommy Lee Jones has a minor, yet key role as one of Bishop’s targets but becomes an ally. Philip Shelby and Tony Mosher wrote an engaging script and didn’t push plot devices too far. Dennis Gansel did a good job of keeping the film moving and made this film an extension of the Statham’s Mechanic film.
Overall: This movie was action packed and engaging.