Five years after his apparent “death”, hitman Arthur Bishop is forced back into the deadly game he left in this action packed sequel.
Having retired by faking his death, Arthur Bishop is now living a quiet life in Brazil. One night at his favorite restaurant, he comes across Renee Tran, a messenger who knows Bishop’s identity and confronts him. He is asked to perform three assassinations. He refuses and after using his skills to escape Renee and some thugs, Arthur heads to a small cove on the beaches of Thailand, where he meets longtime friend Mei.
When Arthur sees Gina Thornton, an ex-military operative turned orphanage teacher, he learns Gina was part of a setup that was meant for Bishop in order for him to be forced to commit the assassinations. The mastermind is Riah Crain, a notorious arms dealer with ties to Bishop that dates back to when they were orphans together. Crain blames Bishop when as kids, Bishop escaped the clutches of the gangster who raised them to be child soldiers. When Crain kidnaps Gina, Bishop soon finds he has no other choice but to do what he longer wanted to do. Will Bishop be able to go back to his old ways as a means to save Gina, or will he have other plans that can perhaps save both himself and Gina from the deadly clutches of Crain?
In 2011, Jason Statham starred in the remake of the classic 1972 Charles Bronson film The Mechanic. One would have never imagined that there would be a sequel as the original was a one-off itself. However, Statham is still a name and the first was a hit at the box office, so it was inevitable that there would be a follow-up and it’s pretty much a run-of-the-mill action thriller that thanks to Statham, makes this film watchable.
Statham brings that old school mentality as Bishop, now retired and doing quite well until he is forced back into the world of assassination. Even if an action film is a run of the mill with a story that has been done to death, for one reason or another, Jason Statham is exactly the one who can still make them watchable. Statham shines again especially when he is unleashing all sorts of chaos when blowing away villains or beating the heck out of them with his martial arts skills. While Jessica Alba’s Gina may serve as a damsel in distress, her character being ex-military does allow her to show some limited form of action all because Gina cares about the orphans in Cambodia that she takes care of.
Don’t expect Michelle Yeoh to throw fistacuffs in this film. She is seen in the first act in a non-action role as Mei, a bar owner who is the closest to being an ally for Statham. She can be said to be a sage-like figure as her character has a history with Bishop, but not in the manner one would think. Sam Hazeldine brings smugness to the role of villain Riah Crain, who seeks revenge for history with Bishop and plans to make him his own personal assassin in the world of arms dealing. One of the drug dealers is played with amazing comic panache by Tommy Lee Jones, who looks like an Elton John celebrity impersonator with his eclectic look. This is perhaps his funniest look and role since 1995’s Batman Forever, which is clear that Jones was having fun with his role as Two-Face. Like in Batman Forever, Jones is truly having fun with the role.
Mechanic: Resurrection is a wild ride of a sequel with Jason Statham driving a run of the mill action film that rises a bit above the rest due in part to Tommy Lee Jones’ obvious fun role. If you liked the original, you might just like this sequel.
WFG RATING: B+
Millennium Films presents a Chartoff-Winkler Productions film in association with Summit Premiere. Director: Dennis Gansel. Producers: William Chartoff, Robert Earl, John Thompson, and
David Winkler. Writers: Philip Shelby and Tony Mosher; based on the original characters by Lewis John Carlino. Cinematography: Daniel Gottschalk. Editing: Michael J. Duthie, Ueli Christian, and Todd E. Miller.
Cast: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh, Sam Hazeldine, John Cenatiempo, Toby Eddington, Femi Elufowoju Jr., Anteo Quintaville, Rhatha Phongnam.
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