The Mechanic

Remakes, Hollywood's second favorite shortcut (after sequels) for quickly churning out mediocre flicks. If I have seen the original 1972 film with Charles Bronson and Jan-Michael Vincent I don't remember it. And there's nothing in the remake that makes me think I've missed anything.

This version stars Jason Statham as hitman Arthur Bishop who takes on the son (Ben Foster) of a old friend (Donald Sutherland) he was forced to kill.

As action flicks go this version by director Simon West is average at best. There's plenty of poor decision making and plot holes where the story is sacrificed for more action scenes. I also found the film's main villain (played by Tony Goldwyn) to be rather bland. His near limitless supply of generic soldiers are even less memorable than he is. If a movie is only as good as its villain The Mechanic is pretty damn forgettable.

The only extras of note on this version are a few deleted scenes, not that you'd expect more from a movie like this, but a featurette on the stunts (by far the best part of the film) would have been nice.

The Mechanic isn't a bad film, but that doesn't mean it's a good one either. Fans of Statham or the genre might decide to give it a rent, or catch it on cable, but I'd be surprised if many went back to view it a second time.