The Mechanic

The Mechanic stars Jason Statham and Ben Foster as hitmen for hire.  The connection between Statham’s character Arthur and Foster’s Steven is that they are master and protégé respectively.  The basic story revolves around Arthur taking out assigned targets for the company he works for and later on adding an old friend’s son on as his protégé.  This movie is a standard bit of action adventure fare that is sure to please people who are looking for a good action movie this winter but for those looking for an action film with a deeper context, they will not find that here.

The Mechanic works as a film if all you choose to focus on the relationship between the two main leads.  Jason Statham is known to be one of this generation’s few good action/stuntmen.  There is something that inherently likable and intimidating about each variation of a hitman that he plays.  I believe in the friendships he’s formed throughout the film and his character Arthur, seems like a guy I wouldn’t mind being friends with.  I also wouldn’t want to cross him.  Ben Foster plays the character of Steven as a revenge seeking alcohol addicted man with no direction and that bothers me because it doesn’t endear me to the pain he experiences throughout the movie.  I think his character is very distant and because of that I don’t truly believe he could be Arthur’s protégé which for me detracts from the little realism this film indicated it might have.  This is a film that tries to be more than its screenwriter, director, and budget allows.  While watching each assassination take place is interesting, the film needs more depth to make it truly rewarding viewing.  Ultimately this hitman film misses the mark.