Movie Date: Mechanic: Resurrection (NC16)
Statham cranks out the same old well-oiled machinery, but Alba’s inclusion is unlikely to resurrect any interest with the women.
STARRING: Jason Statham, Jessica Alba, Sam Hazeldine, Tommy Lee Jones, Michelle Yeoh
DIRECTOR: Dennis Gansel
THE SKINNY: Elite hitman Arthur Bishop (Statham) is forced out of his life in hiding when his businessman arch-nemesis Crain (Hazeldine) tasks him to assassinate his three enemies without leaving a trace. Bishop faces a choice: Follow through or risk the life of his girlfriend Gina (Alba) whom Crain is holding hostage.
MARS - JASON JOHNSON
There isn't much to say about this sequel to 2011's The Mechanic.
In fact, it appears specifically designed so that there wouldn't be much to say about it.
You're not supposed to talk about Mechanic: Resurrection.
You're just supposed to pony up, put your butt in the seat, watch impassively and then exit the theatre like a zombie.
Action movies can be super interesting and a lot of fun, but this one makes no effort to be either.
The plot just trundles along in the most straightforward manner possible, no twists or turns, no ups or downs.
Bishop must finish a mission in order to save his girlfriend. That's it.
Basically, he's Mario and she's Princess Peach, but unfortunately the film lacks that venerable video game franchise's wit and imagination.
If the story lacks interest, its stars are even worse.
Is there anyone more boring than Statham?
The guy is almost 50, and he's been doing the exact same tough guy shtick for almost 20 years, right down to the stubble.
He hasn't evolved one iota.
Alba is just a drag.
The action set pieces are competently executed but lacking in bite.
A lot of big, loud stuff happens, but it's so cartoonish you never feel the danger of it.
I think I've seen enough movies about murderous musclemen to last this and my next few lifetimes.
Rating: 2/5
VENUS - NOOR ASHIKIN ABDUL RAHMAN
Mechanic: Resurrection depends so heavily - and solely - on its protagonist from start to finish that it makes every other character pretty much irrelevant.
Don't get me wrong.
Bishop is a star player, executing applaudable stunt sequences in the most perilous of situations that it makes your heart stop.
I mean, this is the man who cheats death as he scales glass upside down from a great height with giant suction cups and makeshift climbing equipment.
I just wish the script wasn't written such that Bishop does all the work while everyone else exists only to fade into the background.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but yes, that also includes Alba's Gina - a potential strong femme fatale and Bishop sidekick, except she ends up a helpless damsel in distress.
Unfortunately, Gina is just a pawn in this game of chess, erm, assassination.
Even the love scenes she shares with Bishop are uncomfortable at best.
Don't even get me started on action queen Yeoh, who's inexplicably reduced to an island resort owner.
So unless you're down for Mechanic: Resurrection being pretty much The Arthur Bishop Show, it won't be offering much more than explosive fight sequences that are everything an action junkie's dreams are made of.
Rating: 3/5
THE CONSENSUS: Statham cranks out the same old well-oiled machinery, but Alba’s inclusion is unlikely to resurrect any interest with the women.
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