Mechanic: Resurrection follows the well established rule that Jason Statham is very watchable in every single movie that bears his name in the credits. He has a certain charm and a real likeable screen presence that lend itself to all manner of movies. The Mechanic, a remake of a Charles Bronson / Michael Winner film was a good, tight film that knew its audience and played to its obvious strengths in the form of the two lead actors. It was not a film that immediately came to mind as meriting a sequel and just where the character could possibly go.
Bishop (Jason Statham) is in hiding in Rio where he is running a marina. He is tracked down by a former colleague who wants him to carry out a trio of assassinations but make them look like accidents. Bishop initially refuses and moves to another hiding place, this time on an island. There he meets Gina who has actually been sent to persuade him to do the jobs. When Gina is threatened, Bishop agrees to the tasks but at the same time is planning revenge on the bad guys.
The film is a little thin in terms of plot and character development. At no point during the action that you feel that Bishop is in any real danger of getting injured or even killed off. At the start of the film, we are reminded in a few subtle ways that he is a very capable individual who has a certain swagger and style about him. A bit strange for someone who is supposed to be keeping a low profile. For the rest of the film, this impression is backed up by his actions.
Statham could play this role in his sleep. It required no great stretching of his acting muscles at all. He isn’t renowned for his dramatic persona but he has shown himself to be quite versatile and willing to take a risk or two. The 2015 film Spy was a revelation to some for his comedic turn. Unfortunately the character of Bishop has little intentional humour about him. He is all business.
The motivation of the main character is really contrived. For someone in hiding he is easily found not once, but twice. The second leads to a romance which then informs the rest of the action. The idea that he is expected to complete three hits in order to save his girl is no less silly. All the targets are particularly difficult to get to and it ends up like a trio of mini Mission Impossible films.
Jessica Alba seems out of place here. Her character is meant to be a former military advisor who gave it all up to look after orphaned kids in Africa. The fact that she is co-opted to find Bishop seems a little odd. Her mission is to get close to him and let the bad guys know where he is.
The fact that they already know and basically storm his beach hut to get him does not make any sense. Alba’s character is similarly confused. She obviously has combat skills but only shows them on a single occasion. The rest of the time she is consigned to the damsel in distress role.
The action set pieces just about save the film. They are all superbly choreographed which lets the audience follow the action easily. You always have a good sense of what is going on. There are no overly rapid cuts to confuse matters. Crucially, the principal action sequences offer a good deal of variety. The emphasis is always on the physical performance from Statham but his versatility ensures that they are all memorable and exciting.
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