Movie review: ‘The Mechanic’ (2011)

FloridaGator80

I consider the original “The Mechanic” (click here to read my review) and original “Death Wish” (click here to read my review) as Charles Bronson’s two best films. So, I really didn’t want to watch the so-called “reboot” of “The Mechanic” (or the hideous remake of “Death Wish” from 2019, either) because I really didn’t see the need to compare. However, curiosity finally persuaded me and I watched a remade “The Mechanic” and found it interesting to compare the two films and how filmmakers would modernize what was essentially a modern film, albeit without today’s technology. The reboot doesn’t stand up as well as the original, but, if you’re curious, check it out.

‘The Mechanic’
(2011; 93 minutes; rated R; directed by Simon West and starring Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn and Donald Sutherland)

A JUST SO-SO REBOOT OF A BRONSON CLASSIC

For myself, remakes of films used to fall into two categories: an OK treatment of reviving a TV show or film (say, “The Dukes of Hazzard” – click here to read my review – or “Baywatch” – click here to read my review) or a complete steaming pile of garbage unworthy of being called a movie (say, “CHIPS” – click here to read my review). Now, I’ve found that “The Mechanic” from 2011 with Jason Statham is a third: a failed film, but not a complete loss and interesting to compare to the original.

Of course, Charles Bronson was “Arthur Bishop” in the original “The Mechanic” from the 1972 – click here to read my review. He gave a solid, layered performance that built to the climax with his protégé, Jan Michael Vincent as “Steve McKenna.” In 2011, “The Mechanic” reappeared with Statham as “Arthur Bishop” and Ben Foster as the protégé “Steve McKenna.”

As you might expect, the fight scenes are better choreographed and the special effects are much more special, but those in the original weren’t bad and actually nicely in context with the film. The rebooted film just takes for granted that you’ll expect Armegaddeon-like effects and martial arts worthy of Bruce Lee.

“The Mechanic” was released in 2011, but Statham today continues to make movies that feature him as stoic and violent. He’s good at it and it’s making him a lot of money … especially as he’s usually on the side of right and not a hitman.

What disturbed me the most was that the protégé was so much sleazier than the original. Foster’s “Steve McKenna” looks, acts and smokes like some meth-head who belonged in a casting call for the “Breaking Bad” series. At least Vincent had a breezy, “I’m hanging out with hippies” air of his rebellion at first. Foster just looks as if he’s pondering which seat to take while in the waiting room of his probation officer as he goes cold-turkey off the meth.

Both movies show a hitman who is called on to kill a friend and then that friend’s son becomes his protégé. That’s where most of the similarities end. However, Statham does an OK job in conveying his character, but it is as much the deficiency of the screenplay adaptation as it is his acting ability.

At least filmmakers kept the names of the two principal characters, but there the similarity nearly ends. “Arthur Bishop” lives on a bayou in Louisiana in the remake after Bronson lived in an urban setting in the original. Both films attempt to show the main character’s fine taste in housing, but the modern “Arthur Bishop” isn’t as refined in other areas such as the culinary world.

One component that changed but didn’t change is the hitman’s prostitute. In the original, Bronson’s real-life wife Jill Ireland played the hooker and did a nice job in a small role and the same character did as good in the remake (see my comments about that actor later in the review).

You’ll find a major SPOILER ALERT below and it explains why the original is superior in writing and creativity. Without the original, you probably wouldn’t be watching a rebooted “The Mechanic” … but Statham has a nice appeal and you’re better off having watched the remake as not having watch it.

So, let me get to the top of the cast …

  • Statham is the same in this 2011 film as he is in the more current “The Beekeeper” (click here to read my review) and apparently so in the upcoming “A Working Man:” he’s tough, he’s rough and you ain’t gonna beat him in a fight. The problem is that Bronson in the original had a much different type of character. I like Statham in just about anything and he’ll always be a major “plus” in my book in any film. He was solid in the remake of “The Italian Job” as well as the comedy-drama “Spy” (click here to read my review), but I was totally sorry to see him in the bucket of garbage shark flick called “The Meg” (click here to read my review). I also like the few clips of him I’ve seen from “The Expendables” franchise. I doubt he’ll challenge Olivier’s legacy for a spot center stage at the National Theatre, but Statham will always gain a few dollars from myself because of being watchable and likable in films.
  • An Emmy winner and nominee, Foster is just off in his portrayal of “Steve McKenna.” I’m sure he did as he was directed, but as I’ve already noted, he just comes off terrible with his addict-like countenance and cigarette stuck in his mouth (I’m no anti-smoking zealot … it just looks affected and sleazy here). I’m sure just about any other actor in Foster’s age category could have done a better job. Foster earned his Daytime Emmy for 2002 Showtime flick “Bang You’re Dead” for a “children’s special” (?) and got the nomination for a Primetime Emmy for the HBO movie “The Survivor.” He has also been in “3:10 to Yuma” with Russell Crowe and Christian Bale as well as “The Messenger.” I like him best as the morose teenage son in the spectacularly funny “Big Trouble” (click here to read my review).
  • A two-time Golden Globe winner and five-time nominee (not for this one), Donald Sutherland doesn’t have as much to work with as “Harry McKenna” as Keenan Wynn did in the original although his final scene with Statham is meatier than anything Wynn did with Bronson. Sutherland has been in “MASH” (yes, that’s the real name; no asterisks in the official title of the film as they were just added on posters) and several movies set in World War II: “Kelly’s Heroes” with Clint Eastwood (click here for my review), “Eye of the Needle” (click here to read my review) and “The Eagle Has Landed” (click here to read my review). He won won for the dark and sensational HBO movie “Citizen X” about a serial killer in Russia (click here for my review) and HBO’s “Path to War” and was nominated for, among others, for “MASH.” I’d say his best effort was as a hitman’s poisonous father in “Panic” with William H. Macy and Neve Campbell (click here to read my review). Sutherland was presented an honorary Oscar in 2018 and he died at 88 in 2024 following a long illness.
  • Before watching the film, I thought that Tony Goldwyn as bad guy “Dean Sanderson” was an interesting choice in casting, but the screenplay left him little to work with. It is a character that wasn’t developed in the original and poorly developed in this remake. Goldwyn is OK, but certainly not up to his work in “Ghost” Patrick Swayze and “The Last Samurai” with Tom Cruise. He’s also been in “Oppenheimer” and even an episode of the iconic TV series “L.A. Law.”
  • Mini Anden is “Sarah” and is a call girl who gets paid by Statham for the “girlfriend experience.” Ireland did just as good a job in the original, but Anden doesn’t take a back seat (pun not intended) in this character. Although much more visually sexual than the original, Anden makes her character stand out respective of the nude scenes … and that’s a major plus for any actor. She has been in “Tropic Thunder,” “My Best Friend’s Girl” and “Prime,” along with a variety of appearances on different tee-vee shows.

I have to say that director Simon West appears to be a bit lost in telling the story of “The Mechanic.” It didn’t change much from the original, but he managed to avoid most of the original’s high points in creativity, storytelling and back-story elements.

I’m not saying West should have just copied the original and there are updates that work, but, overall, what took time to explore in the original is just smoothed over in the remake to get to the next action scene. For example, Statham and Foster practice with cool firearms, while Bronson and Vincent has simple shotguns at a skeet/trap shooting range. Cooler? Yes, but the original tells a better story.

West has a solid resume from “The Expendables 2” to “Con-Air” and was even the director on the music video “Rick Astley: Never Gonna Give You Up” in the 1980s!

** SPOILER ALERT! BIG SPOILER ALERT!! **

The ending of the reboot of the “The Mechanic” shows why it’s not a great remake.

In the original, Vincent being under the tutelage of the master gets the contract to kill Bronson. Bronson knows this twist of fate and future, but he still goes on the final assignment. Vincent knew Bronson killed his father, but the implication in the original is that Vincent wasn’t motivated by revenge and was becoming the new “Mechanic” by getting the contract on Bronson. He was not motivated by emotion – as a hitman should, in Bronson’s world.

Foster obviously takes revenge for the killing of his father and dies in the same way as Vincent did in the original … but “Arthur Bishop” is left alive in the remake – what a squalid, stupefyingly stupid and stereotypical ending to the film. The original has a real surprise and pause for thought in its ending; the reboot makes it just another forgettable action flick. The method of Bronson’s demise in the original is more clever than the entire remake and is the logical telling of the story.

The original is so much more thoughtful and elegant in the climax and denoument that it is the difference between the reboot’s kick-in-the-groin ending and the thoughtful masterpiece of an action film that is the original.

Of course, a sequel to the reboot was in the works, so Statham’s character couldn’t die. “The Mechanic: Resurrection” with Statham and Jessica Alba came out in 2016 and I’m not even gonna consider watching it.

“The Mechanic” had a miserable performance at the U.S. box office in 2011 by coming in 106th with just $29.1 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” was No. 1 with $381 million in ticket sales; “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” was second with $352.3 million; and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1” was third with $274.8 million. Here are the films from 2011 that I’ve reviewed for my blog:

Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):

  • Foster’s nickname is “Goat Boy” (the nickname takes after a comedic character that is bawdy); Sutherland’s middle name was McNichol; Chase’s birth name is Jeffrey L. Sniffen; and Anden’s full name is Susanna Clara Elisabeth Andén.
  • As for actors’ heights in this action flick, Statham is 5-foot-10; Foster is 5-foot-8; Sutherland was 6-foot-4 (but in a wheelchair in this one); Goldwyn is 6-foot-1; Chase is 6-foot-7; and Anden is 5-foot-10. I put in heights because often Hollywood has micro-men of 5-foot-5 or less for characters that present themselves as taller.
  • Foster broke his collarbone during the extended fight scene with Chase.
  • Although set in and mostly shot in Louisiana, scenes for the film were also produced in Colombia, Houston and Chicago.
  • Directly from IMDb.com: “The car Arthur is working on is a Series 1 Jaguar E-Type, manufactured between 1961 and 1968.”
  • Sutherland worked with Bronson in the original “The Dirty Dozen” as well as the remake of “The Italian Job.”
  • Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “At the 36 minute mark, the slo-mo of the cartridge ejecting from the rifle shows a ‘blank’ cartridge (seen by the crimps on the shell cartridge).”

© Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples, 2025.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without
express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner
is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that
full and clear credit is given to Chuck Curry and A Gator in Naples
with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Unknown's avatar

Published by FloridaGator80

Leave a Reply