Starring Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones
Directed by Dennis Gansel
Rated R
It seems whenever all you want to do is relax on your houseboat while listening to the blues on vinyl while sipping exotic coffee, life has to come along and muck it all up by telling you you’ve got to go kill people.
In a cafe in beautiful Rio de Janeiro, a beautiful lady (Rhatha Phongam) sits down at Otto Santos’ (Jason Statham) table and tells him he must assassinate three people for her employer. Santos is none too excited with this harshing of his mellow, and also he’s not Otto Santos. He’s Arthur Bishop, otherwise known as The Mechanic of the title. This is his resurrection.
Bishop is renowned in the assassin game for being an expert not only in killing people, but making it look like an accident. I think “The Accidental Assassin” would be a better nickname for him, but I suppose “The Mechanic” is OK.
Jason Statham will kill again in MECHANIC: RESURRECTION.
Ever get the impression mechanics don’t really like their job? Bishop would rather refrain from killing people. He’s good at it, but he seems put-upon during missions. I bet his car has a bumper sticker that reads “I’d rather be relaxing on my houseboat while listening to the blues on vinyl and drinking exotic coffee.”
Bishop turns down the beautiful lady’s offer and that doesn’t go over well. A fight ensues. The patrons at that cafe will have quite a story to tell. Bishop then blows up his houseboat and goes to Thailand to lie low with his pal, Mae (Michelle Yeoh). There he does some research on the assassin interwebs and learns that the beautiful lady’s employer is Riah Crain (Sam Hazeldine), a man from Bishop’s past.
Bishop would rather refrain from killing people. He’s good at it, but he seems put-upon during missions. I bet his car has a bumper sticker that reads “I’d rather be relaxing on my houseboat while listening to the blues on vinyl and drinking exotic coffee.”
Mae is concerned about a woman named Gina Thorne (Jessica Alba) who has recently come into her shop covered in cuts and bruises to buy first aid supplies. Mae implores Bishop to rescue Gina from her abusive boyfriend, saying if he doesn’t do something she will.
Statham and Alba. Like 2005 all over again.
Bishop confronts Gina’s boyfriend, and things go badly for the boyfriend. Turns out Gina is caught up in this whole mess with Crain and she also needs Bishop to assassinate those same three people. She’s able to convince Bishop to do it since she’s a good person who works in a children’s shelter in Cambodia. Also she looks like Jessica Alba.
Let’s get to know the targeted three:
#1. Krill (Femi Elufowoju, Jr.), a warlord currently in a Malaysian jail.
#2. Adrian Cook (Toby Eddington), a human trafficker with lots of security detail.
#3. Tommy Lee Jones
This is a serviceable action film with kills that are as inventive as the characters are thin. The events of the film seem like a hassle to Bishop, something to get through so he can get back to his coffee.
I believe it’s a screenwriting rule that if you show Michelle Yeoh in the first act, you’ve got to have her kicking ass in the third act. Mechanic: Resurrection breaks that rule and that’s a shame.
Michelle Yeoh and Statham in MECHANIC: RESURRECTION.
Jessica Alba has without a doubt become a stronger, better actress in recent years. It’s fun watching her in Mechanic: Resurrection, and between the Machete films, this film, and Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, she’s becoming a welcome action movie staple.
Jason Statham carries the torch of Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Seagal and Van Damme as well as anyone could. You never doubt for a second that he’s capable of all of this badassery.
This is a sequel to the remake of the 1972 film of the same name starring Charles Bronson. It’s not as good as that film. I wish I had as much fun watching Mechanic: Resurrection as Tommy Lee Jones had acting in it. The film is a bit of a slog, but Jones hams his way through it like….well, like someone who was in Under Siege.