Nothing says end of the summer like Jason Statham.
The Dumping ground season of August comes to a close and
what better a way to send out an utter fizzle of a summer movie
season than a mediocre man on a mission movie starring Jason Statham.
Statham returns as Bishop, the titular character of “Mechanic: Resurrection,” sequel to the 2011 remake of the Charles Bronson
action film of the same name, “The Mechanic.”
In it, Statham tries to save his girlfriend played by
Jessica Alba. He does this by taking his shirt off. And punching things in a
martial arts fashion. While mumbling in an English accent. And occasionally shooting
guns while doing crazy stunts.
Add in the establishment of him as a badass by every
character saying so with every other line of dialogue regardless of their relationship
to him and being a sequel to a movie few remember and even fewer asked for a
continuation for, and “Mechanic: Resurrection” basically whips up the
quintessential recipe for Jason Statham’s greatest hits. That’s of course
assuming its one of those greatest hits that cobbles together the most
commercially exposed tracks of substantially better albums rather than the legitimately
best productions of its subject in question.
The film is virtually a video game excuse plot. Statham’s
girlfriend of a single day is kidnapped by people with an interest in Statham,
forcing him to carry out the assassinations of three individuals of substantial
corrupt political influence in creative ways staged to look like an accident.
What makes this kind of stock laziness particularly hard to
watch at times is that the rest of the movie could have been a truly hard edged
action romp if the filmmakers actually cared to be even slightly challenging.
If Statham’s marks weren’t so hilariously cartoonish in
being ethnic stereotypes committing crimes against humanity as opposed to being
balanced human beings possibly even producing potential good for society, maybe
his endeavor’s would be a bit more intense. The big pull of the Charles Bronson
movies inspired by this one was that the central character was a harsh antihero
willing to suspend his own humanity for questionable gains so what’s wrong with
giving Bishop a little more edge?
Furthermore, a lot of lip service is given to the connection
between Bishop and the antagonist, yet similarly to the bizarre sudden romance
between him and Jessica Alba, nothing comes of it whatsoever. He could have been
walking through a random tourist location with his reputation at the right
place and time and landed in the exact same adventure with some dialogue
dropped but little to none actually changed.
This is no better exemplified than in the first act of the
film, during which Alba and Statham, situated in Thailand, participate in a
festive couple’s dance put on by the locals that looks unsurprisingly like the
actors have taken a paid vacation until they actually have to mingle with one
another, during which Statham looks hilariously awkward while drinking the rest
of his beer in silence while staring off in the distance next to a confused
looking Alba.
That kind of half-assed chemistry just about summarizes this
movie in a nut shell. The only thing that actually puts it above the kind of
D-grade dumping ground faire that usually hits around this time of the year is that
despite nobody actually caring, the general competence of those involved
actually manages to mildly shine through.
The kills in question are fairly creative and fun to watch
and although I make fun of Statham for regularly underperforming to his genuine
acting potential, this is the kind of role that he can do in his sleep and
still make it look good. The guy is just a truly talented natural action star.
Between the technical competence of the film and its brisk
hour and a half long length, “Mechanic: Resurrection” is probably the best bad
movie I could have hoped for to end a summer that has been borderline god
awful.
5 Statham Drop Kicks out of 10
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