Jason Statham (as ‘Arthur Bishop’) stars in CBS Films’ THE MECHANIC. opening nationwide this Friday. (Photo © 2011 CBS Films)

The Mechanic

AAP staff writer

“Steve if you read this, it means I didn’t make it back. It also means that you’ve broken a filament controlling a 13 second relay trigger. End of game. Bang you’re dead.”

That is the last line in the original movie of the Mechanic. The new Mechanic movie is a remake of the 1972 genre classic, originally starring Charles Bronson. Almost everybody hates remakes, rarely does the new version live up to the original. The original movie gained status because it was new, refreshing, and in this case the original Mechanic started the Hitman sub-genre.

But don’t place that ‘status- quo’ onto this remake. The Mechanic is a refreshing action movie, compared to the usual blow’em movies we see so often now.

The updated version stars Jason Statham (The Expendables, Crank) as Arthur Bishop-the new elite assassin. The Mechanic is a professional Hitman, who researches the subject before killing them; an assassin that can make the death look like an accident, heart attack, or with purposeful and with all the trademarks of a professional.

Bishop is the cream of the crop, the man you place an ad looking for a professional extermination. But something goes awry when his mentor and close friend Harry played by Donald Sutherland (The Italian Job) is murdered.

Harry’s son Steve played by Ben Foster (3:10 To Yuma, 30 Days of Night) is an angry, young man, who wants revenge. Steve wants to become a Mechanic and follow Bishop into the world of killers. Unable to say no to the son of his mentor, The methodical Hitman now has an unstable underling.

Statham has played plenty of action roles. The man can hit and take a hit. But this is definitely one of his better characters that he has chosen to play. Statham doesn’t cry, but you can see that this script was developed a bit better than the usual fireworks you see in an action movie. A notable scene from the movie is actually how we are introduced to the Mechanic.

We know right away that there are security guards walking around and that getting to the boss will be difficult. The action plays out well, believable, and an assassination that I have not seen before in a movie. This movie is a well paced, well made, and action packed movie. But does it live up to the original?

The original was made in 70’s and definitely fit the culture then. The movie had party-drug scenes and groovy 70’s soundtrack. Whereas the new Mechanic has hard hitting club scenes and lots of liquor. After some consideration, the new adapted Mechanic has taken the old version of the Mechanic and made it into a lean mean, blowing up, gun fighting machine for 2011.

This film has been rated R by the MPAA for “Strong brutal violence throughout, language, some sexual content and nudity.”

www. themechanicmovie.com