I often find myself at a disadvantage when talking to my fellow man. There are a small set of topics universally recognized as awkwardness-killing icebreakers when chatting man-to-man,
and I, unfortunately, could hardly care less about most of these -- two of the most common being sports (I enjoy it as an excuse to drink beer and eat copious amounts of chicken wings, but have zero interest in team rosters or the complex mechanics behind the games) and Jason Statham movies (save for the Guy Ritchie ones, I always found them more dumb and predictable than the silly cocktail of carnage and ridiculousness that I prefer in an action flick). Thanks to The Mechanic, I now have one more thing to talk about with the average American male.
The Mechanic is a remake of a '70s Charles Bronson film of the same name. It's memorable for a lengthy dialogue-free opener where Bronson, a world-class assassin named Arthur Bishop, executes a target.
More after the jump...
and I, unfortunately, could hardly care less about most of these -- two of the most common being sports (I enjoy it as an excuse to drink beer and eat copious amounts of chicken wings, but have zero interest in team rosters or the complex mechanics behind the games) and Jason Statham movies (save for the Guy Ritchie ones, I always found them more dumb and predictable than the silly cocktail of carnage and ridiculousness that I prefer in an action flick). Thanks to The Mechanic, I now have one more thing to talk about with the average American male.
The Mechanic is a remake of a '70s Charles Bronson film of the same name. It's memorable for a lengthy dialogue-free opener where Bronson, a world-class assassin named Arthur Bishop, executes a target.
More after the jump...
Director Simon West's (Con-Air) take on the hitman story opens in a similar way following the updated Arthur Bishop, with a silent Statham finally speaking after pulling off a creative kill of a well-guarded Columbian drug lord. What makes The Mechanic (slightly) different than the countless other hired gun movies is that Bishop engineers elaborate executions made to create the appearance of an accidental death.
As Bishop deals with the circumstances leading to the death of the one person he has any emotional attachment to, his mentor Harry (played by Donald Sutherland), he takes Harry's son, Steve (Ben Foster), under his tutelage and the duo begins a bloody quest for revenge that will leave Statham fans giddy at a buffet of mayhem and general badass-ness.
Things come fast, with every bit of footage condensed to minimize setup and get to the good stuff: quick-cut ass beatings. (Even our protagonist's requisite romantic interest is limited to a couple of scenes, one of which mostly consists of her finding out what else Bishop does well beyond killing, i.e., sex.)
The Mechanic is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled nonstop series of close-quarters combat and murder-filled montages that plays more like an extended trailer than a normal action film, with every moment packed to the brim with broken bones and bullets. It's an unabashed guy movie, and even if it's not a "Guy" movie, it's a good excuse to rejoin the Statham fan club.
--Eric Puslifer
As Bishop deals with the circumstances leading to the death of the one person he has any emotional attachment to, his mentor Harry (played by Donald Sutherland), he takes Harry's son, Steve (Ben Foster), under his tutelage and the duo begins a bloody quest for revenge that will leave Statham fans giddy at a buffet of mayhem and general badass-ness.
Things come fast, with every bit of footage condensed to minimize setup and get to the good stuff: quick-cut ass beatings. (Even our protagonist's requisite romantic interest is limited to a couple of scenes, one of which mostly consists of her finding out what else Bishop does well beyond killing, i.e., sex.)
The Mechanic is a fast-paced, adrenaline-fueled nonstop series of close-quarters combat and murder-filled montages that plays more like an extended trailer than a normal action film, with every moment packed to the brim with broken bones and bullets. It's an unabashed guy movie, and even if it's not a "Guy" movie, it's a good excuse to rejoin the Statham fan club.
--Eric Puslifer
RSS Feed
