Less than a month after the release of Jason Bourne, we get ‘Jason Bourne Lite’ in the Mechanic: Resurrection. This movie tries to be Bourne, but it’s just too over-the-top to ever be considered on that level. If you’ve seen one Jason Statham movie, you’ve seen them all. He kicks some ass in an impressive, but outrageous way. There usually isn’t much of a focus on any sort of plot, this film isn’t any different in that regard.
So what actually happens in Resurrection then? Arthur Bishop (Statham) is living in Brazil under the alias Otto Santos (don’t even ask). He is immediately being recruited for a job and before you can blink he’s beating down a half-dozen guys and punches out a woman (it’s that kinda movie). If you are against violence against women, tune away from this one. Next, he ventures onto a tropical island where he meets Gina (Jessica Alba) who he falls for in a matters of minutes. Of course she ends up being abducted and he must kill some dangerous people to get her back. That’s pretty much all you get plot wise.
I’ll give the filmmakers credit for not taking this movie into complete overdrive like the Fast & Furious franchise. It was over-the-top, but not to the extreme where CGI had to take over at all times. After the first action scene that happens minutes into the movie, there is a long lull between the next action scene. Way too much time was devoted to the meet cute (which wasn’t cute at all) between Bishop and Gina. It was so BORING. You can show Statham and Alba’s beach bods all you want, it still doesn’t make it any more entertaining. When the action gets going, it’s pretty solid. There are some cool and exciting fight scenes, but they are so fast-paced you can easily lose focus of what’s going on.
If you missed the first Mechanic movie, you didn’t miss out on anything as they barely honor the events of the first film. This one feels like a stand alone. Unlike in the first film, Bishop compiles a heck of a lot of flier miles. His travels take him to Brazil, Thailand, Cambodia, Bangkok, Australia and he even makes an appearance in Bulgaria. This man puts Jason Bourne’s world-wide travels to shame. They definitely wanted to give this movie an international feel. The “job” in Australia contains the coolest scene of the movie where he takes apart a pool that’s on the ledge of a skyscraper. It’s a scene that will make you woozy if you’re afraid of heights. Visually, they definitely nail some great locales.
Mechanic: Resurrection won’t inspire anything, but it shouldn’t disappoint either. It’s a typical Statham movie, if you’re a fan of his movies, you’ll like it. It’ high on action (minus the meet cute), but low on intellect. I kept thinking how this film could have been a solid video game with the inordinate amount of kill shots. The boat scene at the end had a never-ending army of bodyguards, they were like ants, yet Statham disposed of them all. It’s a mindless movie that tries to keep you busy with all the adrenaline pumping action, it accomplishes that. There is no denying Statham gets it done and it’s fun to watch him do it, even if there is little point or anything significant at stake. I was definitely visually entertained for the duration of Resurrection, but tomorrow morning I might as well be Jason Bourne and have amnesia, because I won’t take away much from this movie.
RATING: 6/10
You can follow me on Twitter @JimRko
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